Playing With Captives
by Shitoyaka-chan
Summary: Kira and Shuhei are kidnapped into Hueco Mundo, where they are looked over by two ex-shinigami NOT a Kira/Shuhei
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- please.

Amaji- Sara

Maaka- me

Amaji sighed and stared into the room at the doorway, staring at the captive man inside. He had been silent for about three days now, sitting on the bed provided to him by Lord Aizen staring out the single, long window into the sands of Hueco Mundo. She stared out the window as well; the white sands and never ending slim crescent moon a beautiful sight, no matter how many hours a day she stared at it. He must not mind staring at the same thing every day, rather night, as well for that's all he did.

The man was Kira Izuru, a vice-captain to the thirteen court guards kidnapped by Amaji and Maaka on command by their Lord. He was blonde and skinny, but every day things seemed to worsen as his eyes started to go blank and thin frame became thinner. His clothed were still the black Shinigami robes, after much fussing with the second General Gin, her brother, she had convinced them to keep a little bit of home. Still, Amaji couldn't get anything out of the blonde and she was soon going to give up and give him away to the Octava Espada, Szayel Aporro Granz, to become a live experiment.

Amaji was tall and extremely slender, almost stick-like, with large curves and breasts. Her skin was a nicely toned tan, and often she thought that even though it was constantly night here, she would still become slightly tanner. Complimenting her body was shining crimson-red eyes and long bright red hair that was in a high ponytail reaching down to her mid-back to give her a feminine charm. Thankfully, her brother was Ichimaru Gin, meaning the Arrancar of Los Noches, the large white dome in Hueco shared and Aileen's army called home left her alone. She shook her head and closed the door behind her, locking it, and then sauntered over to the room next door to the next captive cell her closest friend was watching over.

The other female guard was Maaka, an ex-Shinigami quite a bit shorter, but a little more normal in the weight category with large nice curves and breasts that just fit her nicely. Her hair was black with purple-red tints in the light and her only visible eye was a glittering orangey-yellow. She was watching over the man that was a little bit more lively then his neighbor, though he still refused to talk. The man was Hisagi Shuhei, vice-captain of the ninth and also kidnapped into the dull world on command by their Lord. Now next to the smaller girl, she rolled her eye and sighed.

"Anything?"

"Besides pacing and attempting to climb out a window he's to fat for? Nope." They both sighed in unison and started to walk away, side by side and bored at their duties considering there was no excitement in it. For three days they baby-sat, for three days it felt like they were dieing of boredom. What could be any better then that?

"Think they'll at least do small talk soon? Poor Kira-san seems, I don't know, lifeless. I hate having them here, if us being dragged along wasn't bad enough." Amaji locked her hands behind her back and swayed as they walked towards their shared room they had begged Aizen for ages until he caved with the help of her older brother Gin. They entered their white room and looked around. White walls, white dressers opposite sides of each other, two beds on the farther wall next to each other, and one bathroom with more white.

"I hope so, white's boring enough. And /I/ was the one dragged here; you followed your creepy brother okay? Besides, they don't listen to us; we get to have some fun with them." Maaka sneered and jumped onto her bed, her grey Shinigami robe floating about as she collapsed onto her fluffy bed and attempted to sleep. Amaji giggled and lollygagged over to her own comfy furniture, and sat down staring into space.

"Okay, but he's my bro and I had to. But," Amaji raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how much you sounded like Aizen? I don't think I could hurt Izuru anyway, his eyes are really pretty and their dull enough." She lay down and snuggled against her pillow, her white Shinigami robes slowly falling of as she tugged away at them. Maaka turned over to look at her and grinned an evil devious grin that scared Amaji shitless very often.

"Pretty? Oh dear, do you have a crush on the vice-captain? Or, since he was Gin's fukutaicho, want him because of that fact? Since he's our 'captive' you can do what you want to him you know." Her grin widened, and Amaji stared at her friend blankly. She cocked her head innocently and thought for a moment.

"I just think he had pretty eyes is all. I could never take from Nii-san, or do something like that to someone. You're just creepy." Amaji rolled over on her bed, top of her robes finally off and she was no longer dieing of heat, and she ignored her friends banter on how to treat a captive and how she could do wicked things to the man. She finally fell asleep, but that didn't last long when she was woken up again about five hours later for shift yet again to feed the slowly starving men.

OOO

Maaka pulled open the Hisagi's door, dragging a cart full of food with her. For three days he refused food, now she was going to make him eat if it killed her . . . or him. He turned his head away and ignored her the way he usually did when she entered the room. Crossing her arms, Maaka gave the stubborn man a dark glare with her good eye.

"Are you going to eat this?" She tried, offering the food. He shook his head very slightly, about an inch or so. Maaka sighed. "If you won't eat it voluntarily, I'll cram it down your fat gullet," She warned. He seemed to consider it for a fraction of a second before turning completely away from her. She smiled devilishly. "So be it." With that, she leapt at him, grabbing for his neck. With a firm grip, she dragged him to the ground and promptly sat on his broad chest, pinning him. With him stuck on the ground, Maaka reached for the food and pried his mouth open with her free hand. Suddenly, he bucked his hips, sending her falling backwards, but not off him.

"Let go of me you insane bitch!" He yelled, kicking at her. Once or twice, he made contact with her head, making her recoil and roll off him. Now she was pissed, she stood up and kicked at him. Easily, he caught her foot and tried to push her away. He ended up ripping her pants leg off, leaving most of her leg and thigh exposed. Letting out a cry of rage, Maaka walked to the door, casting one dark glare back at the man lying on the floor.

"Starve, see if I care! Just wither away and die!" She slammed the door behind her, pissed off at his arrogance. She stalked to the wall opposite of his door and leaned against it, crossing her arms and seething in unimaginable rage.

Amaji heard some kind of commotion next door and was almost positive that Maaka had started it. For ten minutes, she had been trying to convince Izuru to eat, but this proved problematic. The blonde man simply refused to eat.

"Let go of me you insane bitch!" Hisagi's loud cry came through the wall, followed by a very loud crashing sound and a slamming door. Amaji pointed her thumb at the door.

"You should probably start eating, if you don't /she/ might come in. And I can't promise she'll be nice about it." Casting an almost frightened look at the door, Izuru picked up a morsel of food and began to nibble. Amaji let out a miniscule sigh of relief, finally he was eating. She cast him a look to make sure he was still eating his food before exiting his room. She saw Maaka leaning against a wall, now missing a pants leg.

"Don't ask," She said in response to Amaji's raised eyebrow. Putting her hands behind her head, the small Shinigami began to walk down the hallway. Noticing her friend wasn't following her, Maaka turned her head to stare. "You coming?" she called. The red-head started, looking up to her friend.

"Right, sorry, I was thinking about something." She jogged to catch up to the darker woman. Maaka smiled.

"Ahh, Izuru-kun? He seems like a bore, I like a man with fight," She shook her pant less leg. "Though undressing by force is a bit tactless." She scowled, thinking about a new wardrobe. Amaji laughed.

"You have your work cut out for you. Hisagi's very stubborn," Maaka rolled her good eye and pulled their door open. She flopped on the floor and began to toy with the fraying edges of her pants. "Aren't you gonna change?" The dark haired woman just shook her head, most likely lost in thoughts of revenge. Amaji decided it was best to leave her alone for now, so she slipped outside and decided to go find someone to annoy.

000

Victim of the day: Szayel. After wondering aimlessly for about an hour, she found the man's room completely by accident and stumbled in looking around at all the glowing and bubbling stuffs he kept in there. She found him towards the back, and the ironic thing was he was going over the scene that had occurred in Hisagi's room while she was busy fussing over Kira. She watched as she lunged, sat, he bucked, she fell . . . yeah the whole picture.

"Plan on doing anything with that, Arrancar?" Pinky turned around with a semi-grin and looked back to the screen that suddenly switched to her food intervention an hour ago.

"Ah, Shinigami. Sadly, there really was nothing to go on, but I know the black one has a small ignorance issue. When do I get them, I'd like to learn more." Amaji glared at the screen and shook her head. Her voice emanated from some sound source, and the Octava turned to her on his swively chair with a contempt crooked grin.

"Never, I've gotten him to eat. I plan on keeping him. They're not specimen to toy with." She sounded ignorant herself, but he wasn't about to steal her catch and have her do nothing about it. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Keeping him? What purpose do you have for him? There is nothing to learn from them, your own brother won't let you help him escape, and there is no personal anything between you. Did you know him, Shinigami?" Amaji though for a moment, and did remember he was her brother's vice, but nothing else really. She was always kept in the dark; Aizen had always made sure of that.

"No, not on a personal level as you've said. But, I still refuse. He is mine, and I won't let you have him, or the other either. What to do with that cocky jerk is up to her, I'm sure she has something planned." Szayel raised an eyebrow, and Amaji straightened up.

"Yours? What claim do you have, you have no level here? Ichimaru-sama may be your brother, but you're not him. In fact, if I asked Aizen-sama, I might even be able to turn you into my own specimen." Amaji shivered and glared at him with her blazing red eyes.

"My brother would not allow that and we both know it. Know you're place Arrancar, I'd suggest you do that soon. And you stay away from those men, they're not toys." She glowered as his grin widened and she say white teeth flash, apparently he really didn't care about anything she'd just said. With a heavy grunt, she twisted around and stalked away proudly to make sure he knew she thought she was above him.

"I will not be a toy either." She found her way out, and again started to wander about looking for some random Fraccion or something to annoy and or punch. Finally, about ten minutes late, Aaroniero crossed her path humming 'It's A Small World' and stopped in his tracks when he saw her. A grin brandished herself when she caught sight of him, and she lunged with an outturned fist. Knuckles connecting with face mask, and shattering it to pieces she smiled and skipped away happy that she'd just punched down something unimaginably stranger then her. She made her way back to her room, but still an hour later (time flies when your bored to hell) she couldn't find it. Something hit her.

"Dammit Gin, stop playing with the damn corridors!" She shouted quite rudely up at the roof of the white hallways, and could have sworn she heard her evil maniacal brother laughing at her from the other side of Los Noches far, /far/ away. No wonder she came across the Espada when she had, but now he was pissing her off again with her unable to find her room. Growling, she stalked away desperately trying to find a place to crash.

"Door!" She found a random door and lunged for it before Ichimaru could change the hallway again and she'd resort to Yammy's way out, running through the doors and giving herself concussion after concussion. She flew at it, crashed into it with a slam, flew it open and ran in, slamming it behind her. Breathing heavily, she turned around to see black little beady eyes looking over to her, and she sighed in relief. She was stuck in the captive's room for the night, Shuhei's no less. "I'm sticking here tonight. I don't touch you, you don't touch me, and we both survive the night. G'night!"

Amaji thrust forward and landed on the white marble floor, and curled up tugging off the top part of her robes. She dozed off in seconds, and for the second day in a row was rudely awakened by the very same being before. Maaka the evil brat.

OOO

Cold water splashed over Amaji's face, waking her in a matter of moments. She coughed and sat up, shivering from the dropped temperature.

"Get up already," Looking up, she saw Maaka standing with two buckets in her hand. "You have to go take care of Mr. Doom-and-Gloom," She jerked her head towards the wall that separated the two rooms. She then proceeded to throw the second bucket of water on the still-sleeping Shuhei. He jumped at the shock and fell off the bed. "You're lucky that's about all I can do as retaliation for ripping my pants to shreds!" She said, pulling up the poor guy by the collar of his clothes. Maaka noticed Amaji slip out of the room, most likely not wanting to be a part of this insanity. Dragging Hisagi with her, the feral-eyed woman grabbed the usual tray of food, bringing into the room. "Are you going to eat today?" She asked, holding the tray in front of her. He glared at her with his dark eyes. She smiled, loving the fiery look in his eye, the look of a true fighter. Sitting up, he looked her in the eye, something he rarely, if ever, did.

"I'll eat, if you tell me your name." Maaka blinked, a little taken aback by this odd request. Shrugging, she thrust the tray at him, dropping it in his lap.

"Raiata Maaka." She sat on the floor in front of him to make sure he ate. He couldn't die on her, Aizen wouldn't like that. She gave an involuntary shudder at the mere thought of her half-brother's name. She hated him with all her being, he had dragged her from the world she knew best and forced her to become a part of a world she never believed in. She was so caught up in her thoughts; she hadn't realized that Hisagi had finished eating. Apparently he had noticed her zone and had taken the opportunity to scarf down all the food in the tray. Maaka laughed inwardly at that. There was no fooling the stomach; the man had been starving for three days. He was looking away, like a puppy that had done something bad. In one swift motion, she stood up and pulled the tray out of his lap, walking to the door. His voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Goodbye, Raiata Maaka." She nodded before closing the door behind her. Leaving Amaji behind to fend for herself, she began to walk down the hallway, noting that Gin was messing with the hallways. She ended up at a random door, and decided to pull it open. As she walked in, she collided with something very solid. Her tiny frame fell to the floor, landing with a loud 'thud'. Looking up she saw that she had crashed into the sexta Espada, Grimmjow.

"What are you doing in my room whelp?" He growled, staring down at the much smaller woman. Briskly, she stood up and brushed herself off, glaring at the arrogant man.

"I didn't know this was your room, kitty-cat," She shot back. "I just walked in. How was I supposed to know it belonged to an arrogant jackass?" Grimmjow grabbed her arm, squeezing hard. His gaze was venomous.

"What the hell did you call me? Gah!" Maaka re-sheathed her Zanpakuto, having just given the blue-haired man a nasty gash on the side of his arm.

"/Don't/. Touch. Me!" She spat, stepping away from him while pushing his now bleeding arm back towards him. "I'll be leaving then, later." She called, stepping out of the room. She began to search in vain for her room again.

000

Amaji sighed, watching the timid man nibble away at his food, completely avoiding her gaze. She turned away to stare out the window supplied to his room, revealing the everlasting white sliver of moon of Hueco Mundo. She curled up and gently rocked herself needing something to do, her gaze constantly shifting from the blond to the pale moon outside. He finished after some time and put the tray next to him on his bed now empty. Amaji stared at it blankly, and then returned her shimmering crimson eyes to Kira who was now gazing intently at her. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"What is your name? And, what are you?" Amaji stared at him, then shook her head and looked at the floor deciding it was something sparkly and funny to look at. Gin had told her not to release her name, no matter whom to. Or the fact that she had willingly come to Los Noches with her brother, just to have someone to talk with before chaos began back at Soul Society. Starting to play with her red hair, she blinked and frowned.

"Amaji, all you need to know." She shifted, still staring at the floor while toying with her hair, but now standing up from the floor. His gaze followed her as she grabbed the empty platter and shifted towards the door, opening it slowly with her feet. Looking back but not directly at him, she smiled half-heartedly and grasped the tray. "I guess I'm just some dead stranger."

She left the room quietly shutting the door behind her, and looked around for her friend who was most likely done choking her own captive with food and should be waiting for her. No such woman was outside; waiting. An irk mark attacking her head, a fang appeared at her lips as she silently snarled, annoyed again her friend had left her alone to fend for herself in these large, lonely white halls. A vein snapped as dropped the tray and started to stomp around to look for her friend, irritated.

"You know I get lost easily, dammit woman! WHY?!" She fumed, screaming loudly down the hallway. She knew at least half of the Arrancar population here had heard her, that and her brother and Aizen, and maybe if she was lucky her god forsaken friend. Maaka was always letting her get lost in these halls, and today was no exception to her treachery.

Looking around for about five minutes, Amaji had already gotten lost in the long halls and was desperately tiring to find a living being, dead or not. Espada or Shinigami. Something she could halt and ask directions too! Tearing away at her red hair, she stomped down some random stairs and found herself in front of a door with the large imprint of a gothic 'One' on it and slammed it open to find a mound of pillows with sleeping form perched on them. Irk mark still there, and irritated beyond therapeutic help, she trudged over to the sleeping Starrk ready to wake him up. Before she could though, a very evil little Fraccion popped up from the mound and attacked her.

"Hello, you are now prisoner to me!" A very happy little Lillinette was now sitting on her breasts, happy as a bee and content at her new captive. Amaji just groaned and bashed her head to the ground, tired and giving up on life. What was the point anymore? Sighing, she let the brat start pushing her around, coming up with game ideas and ignoring the groaning noises Amaji was constantly letting out, and soon they were playing hide and seek in a itty bitty room with only a little mound of pillows to hide them.


	2. Chapter 2

OOO

Maaka strode past random doors, none of them belonging to her or Amaji's, getting angrier and angrier as she continued her walk of doom. Up ahead there was an open door. Sounds of anguish could be heard emanating from the room. Curiosity overcoming all common sense, she peeked into the room, recognizing it to be Starrk's. Amaji was laying buried under the Espada's mound of pillows. The Privion was nowhere in sight and Maaka wondered vaguely where he was before the redhead caught sight of her.

"Help me!" She squeaked, poking her head out for a millisecond before vanishing again. Raising an eyebrow, the smaller woman walked forward and was immediately tackled by the young Fraccion, rolling her onto her back. With a mighty kick, Maaka managed to get Lillinette off her and rolled to her feet. She thrust a hand into the pile, searching for the Shinigami buried within it. Feeling flesh, she grabbed at it and gave a mighty pull, yanking Amaji out and unbalancing herself in the process.

"Can we go?" She asked, pushing her friend off of her and sitting up. Lillinette crossed her arms and glared at the pair.

"You two are no fun!" She complained, falling down onto the pillows and laying her head back. Rolling her good eye, Maaka pulled Amaji out of the room, grumbling as she did. Together, they made their way through the hallways until they finally found their room. The shorter Shinigami flopped down on the floor and stretched out, yawning. Amaji sat down on her bed, stretching her aching legs, glad to be back in a friendly room. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound reverberated through the small room, making both of them jump. With a sigh, Maaka pulled out her communicator out of her inside pocket and jammed it into her ear.

"Whaaaaat?!" She snapped irritably, sitting up on the carpet.

"My, my, calm yourself small one," Gin's voice filtered in through the earpiece. "I have a job for you two to do," There was definite laughter in his voice. "The prisoners need exercise, go take them for a walk around Las Noches." With that, he disconnected. Maaka let out a loud groan and pulled herself up, repeating the message to the redhead. Pissed, she flung the door open and stormed down the hallway, leaving the taller Shinigami to run after her in an attempt not to get lost.

OOO

There was a lot of protest when Maaka snapped the wristband onto Shuhei.

"Oh knock it off," She grumbled, tightening it. "It won't hurt you or anything, it's simply there so you can't run away, now get up." She tugged gently on his sleeve and pulled him to his feet. The dark haired man let out another series of grumbles and tugged at the thin, white, strip around his wrist. Maaka smacked his hand away and grabbed at his hakima, pulling him out of the room and into the hallway.

"I said stop," She griped, letting go of his clothes. "Just walk around for a little bit. How many times have you been out of your room? None?" The shorter woman put her hands on her hips and turned her attention to Kira's door, waiting for the two to come out.

The door opened slowly and Amaji walked out with the blonde trailing behind her, free of all constrictions. Even so, as the two entered the hallway, the man did not attempt to flee, or even voice an opinion on the simple ability to escape. He just walked along, about a foot behind the female, and looked about blankly as if not completely there. Maaka watched as Shuhei's jaw dropped, eying the unused 'leash' in the other captors hands, and at how the other man made no attempt to make a dash for freedom when his chances were so great.

"Kira, what the hell?!" Of course he shouted. She smacked him harshly on the head, shutting him up and earning a glare that could kill, and Amaji sighed walking up to the two. She cocked her head and glanced swiftly at the blonde before returning her gaze to the smallest of the four Shinigami.

"Ignoring that comment, shall we walk them around or, even take them to the world of the living? I've been eying a dress there, and considering there are no school uniform laws anymore. . ." She trailed of with a small giggle, earning a laugh from Maaka. They grasped hands and nodded, then sauntered off wordlessly, the scarred man being dragged and the emo one trailing along quietly, watching the dog-and-master scene in amusement.

Amaji led the group about a mile around the premises of Las Noches before finding a room filled with many necessities thought to be exiled in a place like this, but the red-head rummaged through the many mounds of oddities before popping out of one particularly large pile and surfing down it back towards her Shinigami group. In her hands were four duffle bags seemingly large enough to manage a load of clothes for maybe about three to four days without any issue, a week maybe if pushing it. She shoved a silvery one towards Kira, a fire patterned one towards Maaka, and a ninja themed bag was thrown down on Shuhei's head. Amaji then snapped her fingers, enjoying the superiority over these two men, and a garganta opened for them to shimmy on through.

Both men froze, until a large yank pulled the black haired one through and the blonde was gently pulled through by the shoulder. On the other side, Amaji had made it so that Tokyo popped up beneath the foursome, the bright and sparkly lights a bright invitation to the things to come. With glittery eyes, Amaji turned towards Maaka with a grin and looked over to the two gawking guys.

"I'll go rent us two rooms at a /nice/ hotel, meaning clean and no prostitutes hanging about, then we can crash for tonight and tomorrow we start a Tokyo escapade. I've got money stolen from - err -" She froze, biting back Gin's name so not to alarm the two not-ex-Shinigami. "A friend so that we can buy stuff galore and manage food for a long time, and clothes shall be awaiting us once we get to the room. I'll take Kira along, you can drag around Shuhei like a rag doll until I'm done, I don't trust you two in a nice hotel and a wish not to go alone thank you."

Maaka had laughed when she had suggested dragging Kira along with herself while the shorter woman got the scar-face. Sighing, Amaji nodded swiftly towards the blonde man and leapt away, the man following her. Maaka was amazed at the fact that he was so free, and still he didn't run from them. Pushing aside that thought yanked on the man's chains, willing him up to drag him off somewhere for an hour. Somehow she'd find Amaji later, spiritual pressure maybe. Communication was currently limited at the moment - shit.

OOO

At a swift tug on his restraint and Shuhei was pulled almost into a store window. Maaka slackened her grip on him and stared into the window, taking in all the styles that she was being shown. The black-haired man gave her a look laced with curiosity. He had never seen her like this; she seemed more human, oohing and ahing over the fashions. The slack in his bind increased as the small woman dropped it entirely.

"You're letting me go?" He asked in disbelief, gaping at her. Not giving him any kind of look, she lifted and lowered one shoulder in a half-assed shrug. With a toss of her hair, she moved away and down the street, looking into more windows. Against everything his brain was screaming at him, he followed her. She smiled as she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. 'Men,' she thought with a little laugh. 'Give them what they want and they'll still follow you around like puppies.' A light flashed in front of her face, making her cry out in shock and fall backwards to the pavement. The city lights were beginning to turn on in response to the dimming skyline above them. She pulled herself up to her knees and rubbed the back of her head, groaning a little.

"Yeah, don't help or anything," She grumbled, struggling to stand. "So, where to next?" She asked, turning to face the Shinigami. He pretended to think for a minute.

"I vote we just go back to the hotel, I'm tired from all this excitement." He began to move in the direction Amaji had vanished to, when her voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Aw, we just got here," She said with a fake and very convincing pout, absently pulling at a lock of dark hair. "I was going to walk around for a while. But if you want to go back." She said with a fake sigh, milking it for all it was worth. Before he could start to babble incoherently, she smiled devilishly. "I was kidding, I want to go back." The scarred man growled, angry and exasperated at the meddlesome woman. The bond was pulled again as she picked it up and tugged, half-dragging Shuhei with her.

"Oh, there you two are! What took you so long?" Amaji was perched on a stone wall outside the hotel, a glare clouding her features. Maaka shrugged, brushing away her friend's anger easily.

"Window shopping. I'm stealing some money to get some stuff," She said, ignoring the sounds of disbelief that the redhead was emitting. "So, what rooms are we staying in then?" Amaji tossed the shorter woman a key with the numbers four-eight-three carved into them.

"That's yours and Kira's. Well, for the first night anyway," She said, hopping down and walking down to the elevator. "I figured this would be the best way for now. Besides, they're both master suites, so the beds should be relatively large." She called over her shoulder as she pressed the elevator button. Maaka rolled her eyes and headed towards the stairs, preferring to climb rather than wait around. She made a note that nobody followed her as she began the climb up to the fourth story.

000

Amaji pulled lightly on he chains she had been given, to pissed right now at Maaka's ignorance to care. There was no way in hell that girl was getting any of her money tomorrow, and she'd be lucky to get fed or even be given any money the second day. Sighing, she walked over to a large oak door with the numbers three-seven-six on it in shiny copper and used the old-fashioned key - as in actual metal that fits into a little keyhole in the door to unlock it - and entered followed moments later by a no longer struggling scar face.

She looked around to see and almost ballroom looking sleeping space, enjoying what she paid for her room. It had crimson-red carpeting with large oak walls that made it cozy, the furniture a nice red-maple that lavished the enitrety of the walls. Bookshelf, end tables, nightstands either side of the bed, large, old-fashioned poofy chairs, and a large en-suite bathroom that was stark white the complimented it all. Sighing, she watched the Shinigami slump over on his now official side of the bed, a space just for him she'll never touch ever if it killed her, and walked over to her little mini duffle bag to wisp out a nicely fitting gigai. Shoving it on with ease, though it wasn't too comfortable, she put on pajamas and went straight to bed. There shall be no sharing of the money tomorrow, no matter Maaka did. She'd make sure the little brat wouldn't even be able to steal it, that was a fact.

000

The next morning, the foursome had met downstairs, fully gigai'd and ready to go. Amaji had wanted to go shop for some cute skirts and bra's she'd been wanting for some time, and didn't trust Hisagi to not drool over every pretty lady in the store so she was dragging along the doom-and-gloom emo man along. Maaka was going to yank around said pervert and steal some nice pants she'd wanted the night before then go to the mall where they'd all meet in five hours. Inside the arcade to be exact, even ex-Shinigami wanted to have some fun and the two girls had been drooling over the idea of some DDR completion this week.

Kira's little leash tied around her right wrist (no struggle when she'd put it on this morning, and she hadn't even wanted to), the amused woman skipped off, looking forward to a nice day of shopping. She even planned on buying stuff for Kira if he wanted anything. Oh! And Starrk had asked her to buy one of those fascinating 'therapeutic pillows' the humans had invented - and many of them at that if Amaji had found some.

Still skipping, and slightly yanking at the leash connected to her wrist, Amaji made her way down about four blocks of big city skyscrapers until she'd reached the shopping district. There were smaller buildings along rows and rows of streets and what-nots, and each had a little fascinating sign indicating what was in it and what it had to offer. Eyes glowing like a kid who was in a candy store, Amaji whipped around to grab Kira's hand and drag him off to the first clothing shop she'd seen that had a cool neon green and yellow sign with a rabid bird sporting a bra on its head and shredded underwear in its beak. Inside was man and women's underwear of every variety imaginable, even some unimaginable stuff, and Amaji squealed in pure joy. Not knowing what to go for first, she decided to let her captive pick out some nice clothes while she looked around looking at every piece of fabric in the shop. Thankfully she'd brought enough money to by a mansion for the week - she was going to need.

Kira, a pink tint noticeable under those emo bangs of his, and under the influence of an overly joyous red-head that seemed to be lost in ecstasy, started to rummage through some men's wear he never really actually noticed before. Thankfully there was a nice little section of just boxers and other comfortable pant-like clothing, he waltzed over and picked out some stuff he could wear for the week. If he was offered something like a vacation and spending cash while being kidnapped, he better enjoy the spoils of war. Why not?

Amaji kept grabbing some random stuff he thought she might be picking for herself, but later on learned she was grasping all clothes she wanted him to try on, and he was quite literally forced to 'model' in her choice of clothes for every single woman in that shop - great job super ego, she just killed what he had left of it. Thankfully though, she had let him free of his chains for this, if for just a little while.

OOO

Maaka slipped outside the hotel and dragged the protesting non-ex-Shinigami with her. Ignoring him, the small woman began to walk down the street, drawing in the stares of passersby. A five foot, skinny woman dragging around a buffer, much taller man; that was bound to attract attention. Without paying them any mind, Maaka pulled Shuhei into a large store stocked with dark, emo/punk-looking clothes. The inside of the building was nearly pitch black, and loud, screamo music blasted from unseen speakers. Oddly, he liked the atmosphere.

"Hmm... I need new pants for this damn thing," She pulled at the gigai's hair. "And some belts, and other makeup and jewelry. And Amaji wanted a pride bracelet." She caught the smirk on Shuhei's face as he willingly walked with her to pick out clothes. He even leafed through them himself, thinking that the chains on the pants were actually pretty cool. Maaka walked around the store, pulling bottles of nail polish, chains, necklaces, bracelets, and wristbands off their respected shelves and tucking them into a bag she had brought, making sure to leave it in the front to 'pay' for later.

"Did Amaji give you any money?" He asked suddenly, pulling a pair of dark purple pants with long chains on them off of the rack. Silently she shook her head.

"Nope, but I got a plan for getting the stuff," She smirked and headed towards the dressing room, unconsciously dragging Shuhei with her. Unfortunately for both of them, he couldn't stand outside of the door because of the chain, so he had to follow her in. "Now be a good boy and turn around. I'll be dammed if you get a look at me naked." She almost caught the thin layer of pink spreading on his cheeks before he turned away from her. He felt something heavy fall onto the shackle, and with a jolt, realized that she had taken her top off and had let it slide down the chain. He tried to keep calm as the chain pulled several more times, signifying her dressing and undressing multiple times.

"Are you almost done?" He snapped a little irritably. He had moved so his head was resting on his arm with his elbow propped up against the wall. The dark-haired woman snickered and turned to face him, wearing nothing but a bra and panties. He cast her one glance before lowering his eyes to the floor. He could just about feel the blush seeping into his cheeks.

"Oh, I forgot you had stuff to try on. Well go on, I'm not stopping you. I promise I won't peek," The last line was delivered in a teasing voice. "Well, no promises." She sniggered and reached for a shirt, pulling it on and pulling him closer to her. With an irritated grumble, the dark-haired man hesitantly stripped. Every so often, he thought he caught a glimpse of yellow eyes staring at him, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. When they were both dressed in their original clothes, Shuhei decided to ask the question that pressed into his mind.

"So, how do you propose we pay for all this stuff?" She just smirked in an evil way before her gigai collapsed, leaving her standing in front of him in her spirit form.

"Start causing a commotion," She said simply. "Something about your girlfriend collapsing. I'll be back in a few minutes." With a last smile, she popped the door open with a soft 'click'. Shuhei smiled, knowing full well what she had in mind; he decided to go with it for the sake of free clothes.

"Maaka? Maaka are you alright? Hey, I need some help here!" He kneeled down next to the lifeless body as someone in the store ran to his side. Maaka laughed and grabbed the clothes, unnoticed by all the concerned customers. She shoved them into the bag she had stashed earlier and pushed open the front door, setting off the alarm. Knowing full well she wouldn't get caught, the short woman made her way out to the sidewalk, stashing the bag behind a ledge somewhere near the top of the building. With a chuckle, she made her way back inside to rescue Shuhei.


	3. Chapter 3

000

Amaji trotted out of the store, flinging her bright red hair everywhere is glee. Kira was wielding a back filled with a colorful arrangement of clothing - undergarments to be exact - and he was released as they headed towards the next store. She found one with another glowing neon sign, a pink poodle with a red cat 'riding' its back. Rolling her eyes, she lunged forward towards the shop and found herself surrounded completely by black clothes and emo other stuffs. Figuring it was the right hop for her prisoner, she released the leash and let him wander, which he did, and she followed him like a lost puppy.

"Are you going to follow me everywhere?" He asked dully, rummaging through a long rack of blank jeans with many varied colors and styled of chains. Amaji peeked up at him, being slightly shorter, and ignored the question pulling out a cute pair in which the chains were 'blood-stained' and had broken heart bits dangling from it here and there. She replied as he yanked it away, throwing it into the small pile he had started to try on (half of it she helped pick out - some even for herself even though he stole them away from her).

"I kind of have to, but I can let you have some freedom if you want. . ." she let go of the chain he was on and trotted away to rummage through the clothes, regaining what she'd lost earlier. He raised an eyebrow at her, then turned back to the clothes and went through, finishing with the pants and heading towards the shirts. They met ten minutes later, clothed in hand at the front of the shop, and walked out headed towards the next shop - Amaji noticing he'd bought the pants she'd liked with the bloody chains. Now they had clothes that would hopefully last them a while, this week or not. Again, Amaji was drawn to the neon, out-there looking sign, which this time wielded the imprint of a tiger-lady with a wolf man scratching her chin and his other hand on her thigh. This time she got a comment.

"Do you enjoy the 'kinky' looking signs?" Amaji chuckled and waltzed though the door nonchalantly.

"Do you know what kinky even means?" He shrugged.

"Good question." Next thing they know, a woman was all over them with a tape measure and showing them around a preppy-looking punk-store. The woman noticed the leather connecting Kira to Amaji and she giggled annoyingly, winking at the crimson-eyes girl. She suddenly shoved him to the side for a moment into a rack of scary looking pink, frilly skirts, and giggled again.

"You two like the kinky stuff? Try the back, that where all the good stuff is, though he doesn't seem the type." She pointed a thumb at the blonde currently yanking his top half out of the racks, having issues for he was caught on some hangers as some skirts attached themselves to his robes. Amaji glared at her, and waltzed over to help him out, which finally they succeeded in doing even the he landed with the back of his head in her crotch. The prep laughed 'cutely' and skipped away, headed towards the back where she had pointed out all the fun things were. Kira quickly pulled himself up; managing to yank Amaji up with the help of the chain he was connected to, and brushed himself off slowly. With dull eyes, he looked at her strangely.

"Can we go? Or would you prefer checking out the," He coughed and looked away to stare at that evil prep who was hiding behind the counter wielding a whip Amaji could have sworn had hot pink lace on it. "Back."

Amaji rolled her eyes an, thankful that she wasn't a killer unlike her psycho ex-Shinigami friend, and walked out the door only to collide with said murder dragging along an innocent captive wielding many bags she knew were not paid for. Rolling her eyes again, Amaji yanked at the leash on her and Kira's wrist and pointed behind her back into the store.

"Kinky sex toys and extra whatever-you-wana-call-thems. Back of store, buy the pink, lacey whip for me - rather steal it I mean - for me. Bye." Kira was dragged off, for once actually forced along against his will, and she left Shuhei and Maaka them to themselves.

OOO

Maaka watched the two go, before turning to face the back of the store.

"What do you think? Should we go? Pretend to be the S&M couple, whips, chains, gags, and other kinky materials? Wouldn't be the first time I've been shopping for them." She laughed in a light tone. Shuhei looked at her, astonished. What was with this woman? Furthermore, why did the concept excite him a little? Not being able to speak, he managed a nod and a smirk, knowing she'd be satisfied with that. With a swish of her small hips, Maaka brushed past him and entered the back room. She nearly fell over when she saw the room. It was clad in chains and whips. Tubes were lined up around the room, filled with different substances, and strips of cloth hung off a far wall.

"Alright, where should we start?" The taller man asked, beginning to enjoy himself. Wordlessly, the feral-eyed woman tugged him towards the selection of whips and rummaged around for a minute or two. With a cry of triumph, she pulled out the pink whip Amaji asked her to get. Cloth fell over her face, blinding her and making her fall back from the sudden loss of sight. She knocked into a pair of knees, and realized that Shuhei must have leaned over her to examine the other toys behind the rack. With a smirk, she moved out from under him and stood up; deciding to check out what else the store had to offer. Unfortunately for her, she forgot that she was attached to the Shinigami. Because he was bigger than she was, her arm was pulled backward and she ended up falling backward and hitting the ground - again.

"You know, this would never happen if we weren't tethered together, idiot." Shuhei said, leaning over her to laugh in her face. With an irritated growl, she grabbed his collar and tried to pull herself up. She only managed to pull him down onto his knees, ripping his shirt in the process. At the sound of tearing fabric, a few of the customers turned to watch the two struggle against one another in a bizarre wrestling match. In actuality, they were trying to stand up back on their own two feet. Maaka's flailing hand touched a metal rack and she succeeded to pull herself back to a standing position. With a little huff, she walked around the store, looking around while dragging the other- who was lying on his face. After about an hour, she decided on getting some jars of flavored body paint, Amaji's whip, a few gags, and a set of handcuffs. She paid for the objects- with money she had stolen from some poor human- and started outside, unaware that she was still dragging around her captive.

"Mff! Let mff uphm!" Said captive said, still facedown. Maaka let out a confused noise, and rolled him over with her foot. "Let... Me... Up..." He said through gritted teeth, the makings of a scowl crossing his face. With a roll of her good eye, she gave a mighty tug and lifted him up to his feet. He huffed at her before turning his gaze down the street. "So, what do we do now?" He asked in a bored tone. The short woman merely shrugged and began to walk again; this time adjusting her stride to match his so nobody was being dragged around. They walked in silence for a few minutes, both of them caught up in their own thoughts before Shuhei decided to break the serenity of it all.

"I have a question: why are you and Amaji with Aizen anyway? What causes a Shinigami to betray their own people?" He gave her a leveling look. She shivered slightly at the look. With a loud, defeated sigh, she tucked her hands behind her head and leaned upward to stare at the blue sky.

"I can't say anything about Amaji," She started, closing her good eye and sighing once more. "But I'm as much a prisoner as you. I was taken just like you. So, I never betrayed anyone." The tall man rolled his eyes and let out a sound that was a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

"No way," He said, glaring down at her. "You wouldn't be doing all of this if you weren't a follower." She just shrugged. What did it matter if he believed her or not? Why should the opinion of this man matter to her? The sad thing was that it /did/ matter.

"Don't believe me then," Her voice was flat, not giving away any trace of emotion. "Just know that I /tried/ to get the truth through your thick skull." She flipped open a phone she had just acquired- stolen from the human she had stolen the money from- to check the time. Shit, ten to five. They had to go. She voiced this to Shuhei, and the two of them quickly made their way down to the mall. 000

Amaji flopped about on the chair, trying to regain the comfortable pose she had managed earlier before a ten year old brat had decided to push her off the bench. As she struggled, Kira sat on the end and held the bags tight, keeping them safe from any followers that child might have had. All together the shopping day hadn't gone too bad, and Amaji now had a new stock of clothes to wear. She even possibly had a new toy if Maaka had actually gotten it for her.

Losing hope, Amaji flipped about so that her head was towards Kira and let her hair cascade down his legs and to the floor, laying flat on the bench. The blond looked down at her, shook his head, and stared ahead again most likely completely bored. She poked his side and earned a twitch, but decided against poking him again for that was bore her to fast. She snapped to get his attention, and he looked down at her with a dull look.

"Hmm?"

Amaji sighed and stared up at him. "You're from the third squad, right? Gin's your Captain, how is he?" Kira looked almost surprised by the question, then looked away again and stared straight ahead to the small store across from them in front of the arcade.

"From what I last knew he was fine, lazy as he ever was. Gin-Taichou is Gin-Taichou as everyone else says. Why? You're with the traitor anyway." Amaji closed her eyes and pulled herself up to hug her knees, shunning him from her mind.

"Only because my brother is. And Gin and I were close once, that's all. I miss Rangiku-chan too, I hope she's okay." She muttered, not caring if he heard or not. She was a traitor, but not for the reason he must have though, she's never hurt another Shinigami. If almost killing the thirteenth captain with an overdose by accident doesn't count. Remembering that incident, she laughed and hugged her knees tighter, blocking out the outer world. That is - until she was pushed off the bench again, though by Kira this time. He had poked her side, and of course she fell - ass.

"You're so ditzy, and you call yourself a Shinigami?" Amaji looked up through a waterfall of blonde hair and blank tips to see a very familiar black haired woman dragging along a black haired man. She growled and rubbed her ass, then stood up quickly and shot a glare at Kira who stared at her a moment before turning her gaze to back to the other two evil beings.

"Sadly, I did once. Now are we DDR'ing or what?" She whipped around and waltzed into the arcade, Kira suddenly made impact with the ground and was dragged away twitching by the angry crimson-red haired woman, right over to the DDR station where he lay still and bleeding profusely from the nose. Maaka walked up beside Amaji on the DDR mat laughing at the inured man, Shuhei now helping him up understanding his pain. Amaji place in some quarters and let Maaka pick the first three songs, and they looked through each and every one. While doing so, Amaji decided to play twenty questions.

"So, what's you get at the store anyway? Hopefully a little toy I had asked for, oh please say yes." Maaka gave the other woman a stare before shaking her head with a chuckle and getting back to picking a song, already a crowd was forming.

"Tons of crap, and yeah I got your freaking whip. What the hell are you going to use if for?" Maaka's voice cracked, and she landed on the song 'Butterfly' and placed herself on expert. Amaji did the same and laughed, preparing herself as Maaka pressed the 'X' button to play. The song started and the arrows went fast, but still the girls kept up and amazingly with grace.

"Nothing really, just thought it was cool, eep," She nearly tripped as her leash caught the bar behind them and she almost fell over as it yanked her back, thankfully she managed to get back into the game and fast. "What about you, Shuhei I' assuming?" Maaka laughed and double jumped, missing an off beat arrow and cursing.

"He wouldn't need it. Mr. little black rain cloud over there would most certainly need that extra boost, I could let you borrow some crap if you asked nicely." Amaji missed a double jump and twisted around doing a 360 in order to make the next fifty-some arrows she would have missed otherwise.

"Sad thing is you don't play with toys your first time. Do you really think he's gotten some? Unless, Gin . . . maybe he could use some toys to perk himself up. And Shuhei - well - do you even think he'd /need/ the ego boost?" The song ended, and Maaka chose another song straight away, knowing what she wanted already. They were going to do this for an hour, so she better dance some good songs. People were crowded all around now, and they were dancing as gracefully as ballerinas - ironic on Amaji's behalf. Kira was now sitting, asleep, and Shuhei was busying himself at the chain to attempt a chance at freedom. Maaka rolled her eyes.

"You never know, but mind you it's also fun. And I bet you Shuhei's freedom that emo thing over there is a virgin, like you." Amaji snorted and stomped down hard to manage an off beat set she might have missed otherwise.

"I don't think I can take that bet, or should rather, but fine. I'll even bet my virginity on it, to offer to the possible 'virgin'." With that, they continued for the last hour, then made their way to dinner, and then finally to the hotel for a good nights rest. Kira and Amaji tonight and Maaka and Shuhei. Tomorrow, they'd all shop together. And both girls were looking forward to this bet.


	4. Chapter 4

OOO

Shuhei woke up on the floor, not covered by anything more than a sheet. Maaka was lying in the middle of the bed, on her side with her legs stretched out in front of her. Apparently sometime during the night she had kicked him off the bed- literally. With a loud groan, the Shinigami made it to his feet, stretching sore muscles from lying on the hard floor all night. He made his way over to the curtains and threw them open, letting bright sunlight flittered into the room. Another groan sounded, softer and more feminine this time as Maaka opened her eyes to the assaulting light.

"Would you shut that?!" She grumbled, flopping onto her stomach and burying her face in the soft pillows. She heard his chuckle before he disappeared into the bathroom. With a second groan, the raven sat up, clutching the pillow to her chest and bobbing her head up and down, trying not to fall back asleep. She stifled a loud yawn as she swung her legs over the bed and climbed out, pulling her top and bra off as she did. She was in the process of taking off her pants and underwear when the bathroom door opened.

OOO

Amaji was in the process of walking up to Maaka and Shuhei's room when she heard the bloodcurdling shriek. A door was opened and Shuhei came flying out, a red, hand shaped welt apparent on his cheek.

"Aw, it was a joke, Maaka!" He called before the door was slammed, the woman behind it letting out an angry cry. Raising her eyebrow at the sight, Amaji entered the room and was nearly hit in the face with something hard. When the attacker saw who it was, she stopped and crossed her arms.

"What was-?"

"Don't ask." She said, cutting off the red head before turning to rummage through a bag and pulling out the newly acquired whip. "Can I use this?" Amaji chuckled.

"Not unless it's for something kinky," She stated, pulling the strip of leather out of her friend's hand. "Now get ready, it's shopping time." Deciding that leaving her alone would be a bad idea, Amaji perched herself on the bed and waited for Maaka to get ready. When the hot headed Shinigami was finished preparing for a stroll around the human world, the two women exited the room to find Shuhei and Kira leaning against a wall and talking. When they caught sight of their captors, the men stopped talking abruptly. Maaka rolled her eyes at them and continued down the hall, not paying much attention to her little group.

"Well? Let's go, I don't want to be standing here all day!" She turned around and placed her hands on her hips in a very preppy way. Without waiting for a response, she continued down the stairs and walked outside. While waiting for her friends, she busied herself by stealing money from poor tourists.

"Would you knock that off?" Amaji said to her while she was in her spirit form, the redhead's eye twitched in annoyance. Maaka simply laughed and swiped another wallet with skillful fingers, emptying it in seconds and pocketing the green bills.

"But I need the money. /You/ sure as hell aren't gonna pay for me, so I need to get my funds elsewhere." With an eye roll, she walked back over to her gigai and forced her spirit back into it. "So where to? I mean where can we go to have some fun?" The short woman turned and scoped out the street with her good eye. "Aha! There." She pointed to a yellow neon sign bearing a local taverns name in it.

"You want to go drinking this early?" Kira asked her in disbelief. She shrugged and turned to face him.

"We need to unwind a little. Plus the night will be more fun this way." With a grin befitting Satan, She grabbed the blonde by the wrist and dragged him in the direction of the bar, the other two not far behind. 000

Amaji yawned, bored of drinking after about twenty minutes, having had three shots and a Molson that she had to strain to drink without nearly throwing the thing back up, sighed and placed a head on her arms on the counter as Kira took another drink without question. She ordered a Kataba, rose petals included for some odd reason, and she sipped it down avoiding choking on the soft, red petals. She looked up at the bar tender, a young man of maybe twenty-something who was black and spiky haired, with bright purple streaks and contact affected lime-green eyes. Kira was chugging something, Shuhei was downing something quickly, and Maaka was making fun of Shuhei downing that something, what else was there to do?

"How long you staying?" The man asked, bold but with a charming smile that made things semi-okay. Kira looked over from his drink.

"Today, maybe another hour, over all the whole week." Amaji watched him mix another fruity drink admiringly, his handy work not too shabby, and let him pour her another drink that might have been just a bit too much.

"On me, unless you'd like to stay quiet." He was wearing a studded collar, cute bad-ass effect, and had on a ripped black shirt with many tears. Even Maaka perked up from her drinking escapade.

"Make that four and I'll spill anything," He poured four large drinks and passed them out, Maaka taking hers greedily and Shuhei eyeing his wearily. "You'd like to know . . .?"

"Name, and if you have one, a number?" His eyes glinted, and Amaji smiled sweetly admiring his boldness. Kira looked away and stared blankly at the dance floor, listening in on what happened. Amaji scribbled down a number, and placed it on the counter with a twenty.

"Amaji, no number." She stood up and let the shackle jingle, taking a step over to Kira to grasp at his chain. Maaka noticed and stood up to, nearly taking Shuhei off his seat the chain was so short. The bartender grinned, but seemed upset and took the tip without question, giving another customer her drink yet not even noticing her large, open breasts or blonde hair. Taking note of that, she rolled her eyes secretly and released herself of the chain, slightly woozy. She chained it to a pole and placed the blond in a chair, before a couple of bunny eared, leather strapped, make-up laced, strippers. Within seconds, Shuhei was sitting beside him wide-eyes and freaked. Kira shared that notion.

"You two stay here and be good." Maaka laughed as Amaji waltzed to the woman, handing them both wads of money, and walked back over to the two men handing them both a couple twenties.

"We're going out quickly, I hope they're enough." She tossed a little more cash into their laps, and with a quick peek at Kira whom was avoiding any look at the two whores, walked away towards the exit with Maaka who was flirting about unintentionally swaying her hips and jumping around with bouncing breasts.

OOO

The two ex-Shinigami made their way into a high end dress shop, looking around to see what would suit their captives. The flamboyant owner of the shop came over to greet them.

"Hello ladies," He greeted them with a creepy smile. "What are we looking for today?" The two thought for a moment, obviously wanting dresses for themselves, but thinking of a way to have fun as well.

"Well, we have these two guy friends, and we want to get them something nice." Maaka said with a smirk. The blonde haired man mirrored her smirk in understanding. He grabbed the short woman's hand and pulled her away. She cast a look back at the now-laughing Amaji.

"Now, tell me about them," He said, leading them to a less populated area of the shop. "I can find some fitting dresses for them." Maaka thought for a minute.

"Well, he's kinda gruff looking: dark hair, dark eyes, usually frowns. Oh! And he has three scars here." She drew lines down her face to signify the markings. The man thought for a moment before smiling and withdrawing into the racks of dresses. The two friends gave each other looks before he came back; holding a frilly, French maid dress. Self-explanatory. With a laugh at the vision of the hot head wearing the dress, Maaka took it from him.

"Now what about the other one?"

"Well, he doesn't talk much; he's got light hair. . . I would classify him as: Mr. Doom and Gloom." Amaji said, trying to think of the right words to classify Kira.

"Pink, I see him in pink, wait here." He said before vanishing again. Maaka cast Amaji one more look before walking away.

"I'm gonna look for a dress for me, catch up later alright?" She said, before Amaji could no longer see her over the taller racks. The owner appeared again, holding an equally frilly pink dress. It might have come down to the blonde's knees. Lots of glitter and ribbon around the bust, waist, and shoulders. With a grin, Amaji grabbed the dress and thanked the man. She found Maaka looking at slim dresses. The raven pulled a black dress with a lot of folds in it. With a frown, she put it back and continued looking. With a grin, she pulled another off the rack, but refused to let Amaji see it. She hurried off to try the garment on, leaving her friend to look for herself. She searched through a multitude of dresses before seeing one that she liked. A silvery purple

She grabbed it and walked to the dressing room, running into Maaka modeling her dress to the few people in the room. It was a deep purple, and it hugged her slim waist. The top of it resembled a corset, complete with silver rings and black lace, the bottom of it was a lace-like material that ended a little above her knees. Just about every guy in the little waiting room was looking at her in some lustful way.

"What do you think?" She asked Amaji, twirling around for her. "These would look great with those high boots I got." The crimson haired woman smiled and nodded in approval before signaling that she too had an outfit that she wished to try on. She slipped inside and tried on her apparel. The looks from the guys out in the waiting room were enough for Amaji to know she was buying it.

Amaji walked out with a two piece, Skirt and top. The skirt was deep crimson with black leather straps and black underlay. Leather fitted the skirt in different areas, offering a more gothic look. Chains were attached from the rim that were tainted red here and there like bloods splatter, and it reached down to maybe just past her thighs. The top was a thin piece of red cloth, hugging her breasts to make them larger then they were, and a black leather jacket lay over that. Chains on pockets and the red shirt was slightly shredded. She had placed around her neck a thin black wire that had a sliver of a moon placed on it. She twirled, showing off more flesh then Maaka had thought she'd ever show.

"You like it?" Amaji asked, placing a hand on the necklace and innocently toying with it in her fingers. Maaka grinned and nodded, and together the girls got the dresses and headed back to the bar for some fun, still in newly bought apparel.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, there is a random appearance from Kakashi. For the record, a squeaky marshmallow summons him

000

Amaji plopped next to Kira, startling the man at her sudden entrance, and he peeked open his eyes he must have been holding shut the entire time to look incredulously at her. He stopped staring quickly and looked away to see Shuhei avoiding his gaze from the women as well. Strippers and captors. The girls sighed and shooed off the paid women, cash spent and annoyed at them for sticking around the men even when they'd returned. Unlatching them from the posts, the girls giggled and dragged them off to the women's bathrooms, preparing to place them in the dresses.

In the bathroom, and avoiding the stalls where evil noises were coming from, Amaji pulled out the pink dress and Maaka yanked out the French maids dress with a wide grin. Kira was already stripping, understanding this was inevitable, Shuhei struggling as Maaka stripped him and forced him into the dress kicking and - well - yelping in distress and annoyance. Amaji watched the scene, helping Kira into his dress with the zip-up back and bow at the waist, Maaka shouting in triumph as Shuhei lay sprawled and defeated on the actually shiny-white clean floors.

"Score uncountable for Maaka, nuhzing for ze French boy." Amaji added an accent to the end for fun effect; Maaka pumped a fist in triumph yet again. The two women dragged their men out of the room and over to the bartender.

"Hey, think these two could help pay for the drinks we had and all future drinks?" She asked the dark haired man. She pushed the two men in a full 360, letting the man see all angles. He gave them looks for a moment before grinning.

"Alright, I guess they could give it a try. You, Blondie, take the cage from Alua. As for tall, dark, and scary, let's see how well he can work the pole." The man crossed his arms and grinned at the two men before Maaka tugged Shuhei away.

"Here, work the pole, Shuhei-kun." She said with a grin, snapping the end of the leash to the large pole in the center of the bar. Amaji took the hint and shoved Kira into the cage, locking the door so he was trapped. With her captive safely tethered to a pole, Maaka sat back down at the bar.

"Two martinis!" She said, waving her hand in the air as Amaji took the seat next to her. Both girls ignored the men's performance- which sounded like it was going well. "What? It's to keep them up there for as long as possible." She said to the bartender. "Oh, never caught your name. Mind telling me since you keep giving my friend the googly eyes?" She said, the last line delivered in a threatening note. The man poured their drinks and slid them over the wooden table.

"Takka. And of course I'd stare at someone so beautiful." He said, leaning closer to Amaji. The redhead let out a sound of discomfort and leaned away a little bit. Takka took the hint and recoiled. He reached under the bar and pulled out a bag of chocolate fluffs. "Here, peace offering. They're marshmallows." He explained as Amaji took the chocolate covered thing.

"Here, Maaka-chan, I don't want it." She tossed it to her more evil counterpart. Said counterpart tossed it back and suddenly the thing squeaked as the red-head caught. A silver flash behind Maaka's head caught Amaji's attention and standing there out of nowhere and he was eyeing the neon colored marshmallow. Looks like a red and pink thing was going on at the bar, explaining the petals earlier. Amaji poked Maaka's shoulder, wondering who the hell this man was, and Maaka looked behind her to catch the mans eyes.

"Uh?" She mouthed, freezing as she noticed him standing ever-so-close behind her. He was wearing weird, funky out of date clothing, with a mask and some wacked out headband over his eye. Both girls gawked at him, and suddenly his eyes darted towards the pink, squishy food.

"Marshmallow please, and I'll be on my way." He stated, holding out a hand at Amaji. Maaka, being so close, slowly moved backwards with wide eyes until she abruptly jumped off her chair and stalked off 'casually' towards Shuhei's pole and waltzed up randomly starting to dance with him at the pole. He gave her a look, then shrugged and went back to dancing, including her with in his actually amazing dancing. Amaji was left behind to fend for herself against the creepy old man.

"This thing?" Amaji's hand slowly moved out to his, offering the neon object. From the bar Takka was eyeing the mans movements, keeping an eye on the female and old man suddenly gaining her attention. He took the marshmallow, pulled down his mask, ate the squeaky thing, and poofed away in some smoke to Gods know where? Weirded out, Amaji turned to Takka and twitched, wondering what the fuck just happened. He stare at her with his lime-green eyes and shrugged, not knowing either. The woman sighed and grasped at an empty martini glass for no reason, wondering why she was even on this earth or what she was even doing. Oh, wait, emo sitting - never mind.

The Medic Droid began to blast through the speaker system, and it happened to be one of Amaji's favorite songs - Fer Sure. The girl perked up, and a grin appeared on her features. Takka paused from his glass, and Amaji stood up suddenly, giggling and bursting with energy. She grasped his arm from over the bar and he stared at it, eyebrow raised.

"Dance with me, I know Doom and Gloom won't!" He managed to put his glass down in time as she pulled him away from the drinking area and to the dance floor. He halted a she whipped around and placed her hands around his neck, moving and grinding in beat to the music already into it. It took a moment, but Takka quickly took to the beat and started dancing with Amaji, enjoying the attention suddenly being given to him. The danced at a quick pace, almost trans-like as Amaji truly loved this song and new how to dance, always having loved to. The dance floor slowly cleared to let the two dance, already hot and sweaty as they went at it. She panted, and continued to dance, ignoring the stars from all around her. Little did she notice the blonde from the cage freed and making his way to the front of the crowd to watch his captor grind and move to the playing song. She caught sight of Maaka at the pole, and they kept connection through eye contact, completely enjoying themselves.

The song ended and the DJ- noticing the two pretty girls drawing in a crowd of men- replayed the song. Maaka grinned and did a quick walk-around on the pole, noticing the stares she was getting- even a few from the raven tied to said pole. With a smirk, she made her way over to Shuhei and put one arm around his neck, swinging her hips in rhythm with the fast song. She did a quick dip down the Shinigami's body, receiving cheers from the drunk men around her. Turning around, she closed her eyes and began to move her arms with her hips, stirring up more cheers and a few dollar tips. Her wrist was grabbed and she was twirled backward into the man in the French maid dress. They stood back-to-chest as he put his hands on her hips and swayed with her, mouthing the few lyrics he had managed to learn. She smiled and began to sing with the song, bringing one hand up to wrap around the Shinigami's neck. Amaji noticed Kira standing on the edge of the crowd, seemingly sulking. Leaving Takka's side, she held out her hand to the blonde.

"Do you want to dance?" She asked with a hint of exasperation in her voice. He looked away for a moment before grabbing her outstretched hand. With a little cry of happiness, the redhead pulled him out to the middle of the floor. Taaka had noticed her going over to Kira and had backed off to the bar. Back with Amaji, she was trying desperately to convince the stiff man to move, which wasn't working well. Laughing irritably at him and singing loudly to the lyrics, she forced his hands on her sides and slammed her hips into his to force him to move. Slowly, his form started to create a rhythm alongside Amaji's moving body and finally she had him dancing with her in the same, erotic motions. Together, they swiftly twisted and rotated around the dance floor, gaining admiring looks from all around. His pink dress floated, and Amaji's skirt twisted, together they danced in unison to the beat of the song. Kira, slightly wasted and forced into it, slowly allowed himself to enjoy what he was actually doing. Very unlike Kira, but considering how wrong things had gone lately he needed a stress relief. Finally, with cheers and admiring noises from all directions, they ended the song with Amaji's back to Kira's chest. His arms were wrapped around her sides with her hands up around his neck and her neck exposed to his lowered head. Not quite what she anticipated. Shit!

With an embarrassed laugh, Amaji scrambled away from the blonde and found herself near the stripper pole as the song re-started for a third time. Maaka un-cuffed Shuhei and lightly pushed him off the stage, only to replace him with Amaji. The redhead grabbed the pole and did a quick walk-around before leaping onto the metal and slowly sliding down in an erotic fashion, trying to get used to the new dance floor. She's never done this before so she tried to follow Maaka's patterns. She shifted slightly to allow Maaka to take hold of the pole. The smaller woman wrapped her leg around it, just under Amaji's, and threw her upper body back, arching her back as she did so. Both actions brought cheers from the drunks. The two captives couldn't help but stare as Maaka moved away to solo dance next to Amaji, who was dancing on the pole. The redhead climbed up the pole and slid downwards with her head pointed to the floor.

Maaka laughed and shooed her away before taking the pole for herself. She placed her hands behind the bar as if she was cuffed to it before grinding her hips backward into it. She slid downward, pulling her knees back to her until she was sitting on the ground with her knees tucked up to her chest slightly. She did a little kicking motion and swung her hips back so that she was back into a standing position. Amaji walked over and joined her friend at the pole. She wrapped her arms around the smaller woman's hips and grabbed a hold of the metal as Maaka leaned back into her. Together they swayed their hips and slowly rolled on their feet to swing around the pole. Maaka turned around and repeated the move she had just done, sliding down the pole. Amaji followed her, but threw her hips back so she was posed seductively over the seated woman. Neither woman noticed that twenties and fifties were being thrown at them left and right. Maaka pulled herself up and brought her face dangerously close to Amaji's. On her tiptoes she managed boob-to-boob contact just as the song ended. Both women snapped out of their trance long enough to realize that there was money on the ground. Not really caring how it got there, they bent down and scooped up the majority of the bills before making their way back to the men nonchalantly.

Kira openly ignored them while Shuhei was having a hard time picking his jaw up from the floor. Maaka was no help as she pulled out a fifty that she had stuffed into the front of her dress and shoved it down his own dress.

"For the original stripper." She said with a small smile before turning away. Amaji was getting angry over Kira's ignoring her.

"Do you really think I'm really like that?" She snapped, grabbing the blonde man's shoulders. Three men appeared suddenly from their left. They weren't horrible looking, big, and dressed in suits with noticeable red drunk marks on their faces. One wrapped his arm around Maaka's shoulders - the best looking of the three at least.

"Hey baby," He slurred as one of the others moved near Amaji. "Wanna come back to our hotel with us?" With a look of disgust, the small woman slipped out from under his arm and moved a little closer to Shuhei. He laughed drunkenly. "Aw, don't be like that, we'll pay you triple for both of you. Leave these unworthy men of your status and come with some real men." He reached out and grabbed her upper arm in a hard grip.

A yelp sounded from Amaji as one of the other men grabbed her butt a little bit away. Maaka watched as she turned on the man and fiercely slapped the man before Kira pulled her away from the man's grasp. Kira managed to get her behind him in a protective gesture, giving the pervert a stern stare. Amaji glared at the offender over the taller man's shoulders and grasped the blondes arm for a little extra comfort. The man hitting on Maaka was stopped as Shuhei stepped in front of her, giving the larger man a venomous glare.

"Don't talk to her like that," He said in a deadly serious voice that semi-scared Maaka, and still he continued. "In fact; don't talk to her at all. Don't even touch her. Now why don't you leave her alone before I kick your ass?" The man let out a snort before reaching around the raven and roughly grabbing her wrist to pull her away with a sneer.

"Why do /you/ care? A whore's a whore-" Whatever he was going to say was cut off by Shuhei's fist. The man stumbled back as Shuhei stepped back to Maaka's side. Amaji moved to her friend as quickly as possible in her gigai.

"We should leave now." She said, her eyes wider than usual. Taking the hint, the other three hurried out into the street. Kira shielding Amaji and Shuhei casting glares at any man who even sneezed wrong in Maaka's direction


	6. Chapter 6

Back at the hotel, grasping clothes originally worn to the bar, the small band of Shinigami slumped into the comfy, big chairs supplied downstairs in the lounge tired from their run and escapade in the bar today. It was dusk, and time for dinner, but none of them were hungry after what they'd done earlier. They were earning strange stares from passersby as they lay on their chairs, worn out. Maaka was the first to speak up, panting slightly and a weak smile on her features.

"So, we stay for the next four days or go back? Aizen probably doesn't care that we're gone but, there is still that nagging doubt." She laughed, Amaji rolling her eyes and throwing a napkin at her supplied by the end table next to them.

"So, get chewed out or stay and risk more problems? I vote we stay, might as well, I think I need this vacation. You guys in?" She nodded towards Shuhei, currently poking at his outfit wondering how to get it off, then towards Kira who was pulling his dress down to avoid showing anything. She laughed, and Kira cast her a glance that she could have sworn was a glare.

"We have no choice. We go where you go." Shuhei patted his shoulder and walked over to the hotel manager, asking for a spare key since his was lost at the bar when he was stripped down. Maaka gaped at his fluffy rump enjoying what she saw, ignoring Kira and Amaji battling it out in a glaring contest. Amaji stuck her tongue out at him and leaned back giggling. Rolling her eyes, Maaka stood up and walked over to Shuhei to figure out what the hold up was.

"Notice, you have no leash. Neither does Hisagi over there, your free to roam." Kira whipped his head down to his wrist and noticed the chains really were gone, Shuhei's as well. The pair at the desk started away towards the stairs and left without any consent, leaving the blonde and redhead behind to fend for themselves. "And, I must go sleep. Are you up for it or are you fleeing back to your mommy and Captain?"

He stood up, dress floofing out as he did so, and walked towards the elevator with Amaji trailing behind humming 'It's a Small World' to herself. They made it into the elevator and found a mother with her kid, both turning to stare at the cross-dressing, flamboyant lieutenant. Casting the kid a creepy stare, he turned over to Amaji who was rocking back and forth on her heels.

"My mother is dead. Don't bring that up." Amaji stopped mid-rock and turned to look at Kira.

"So is mine, sorry about that. At least you have Gin, be thankful." Shrugging she went back to rocking, and as she did the elevator suddenly stopped on not her floor sending flying sideways into Kira. He gave a small awkward cry as the ex-Shinigami fell and grasped at his waist, pulling him down so that she landed between his legs almost on his crotch. When she looked up his legs were spread so that the dress was open, and she cried out and buried her face into the floor to avoid gazing at the awful sight shown.

Outside a small crowd had formed, men and woman turning to look at the scene playing out. A girl in some funky, Goth dress tackling a cross-dressing man and looking as if giving head. Are they sure they didn't want to just go down what, two flights stairs, to avoid this mess? No, they waited as Amaji pushed herself up and off Kira, blushing and yanking him up to drag him to the stairs to walk up the last flight.

"Easy way out, let's go!" She panicked, dragging him up. They made their way finally to their room, waltzed in, and the ginger made her way to the bed ready to just sleep. It was early, but she was tired and annoyed. Kira changed quickly, and made his way slowly to the bed to lay down and attempt sleep too; figuring what else was there to do? Something was nagging him before he could do that.

"So I have Gin-taichou. How would you know him?" Amaji next to him sighed, not really wanting to answer. She couldn't tell him he was her brother.

"Was a Shinigami too, you know. I knew him, he and I were close. He was a replacement for my parents, that's all. Go to bed, my flamboyant friend." Without a reply, she was asleep, and Kira, glaring at the wall, finally managed after an hour and a half of TV, a bath, and some maid service ordering some food he was sure he couldn't pay for.

OOO

Maaka sat on the edge of their shared bed, staring out at the moon just visible over the neon signs of Tokyo. The man asleep in the bed shifted closer to her, mumbling in his sleep. He rolled over until he was facing her. His arms looped around her waist and he pulled her off balance back onto the bed. The smaller woman struggled to no avail to get out of Shuhei's grip.

"You have three seconds to let go of me before I slice you into ribbons." She stated, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. She reached for her Zanpakuto, leaning up on the wall and significantly out of her reach. With a groan, she decided it was better not to fight him; he wasn't letting go anyway. She leaned back against the fluffy pillows and sighed, still trying to stare at the moon. After a while, the events of the day caught up with her, and she slipped into sleep. For the first time in a while, she actually felt secure as she slept.

OOO

Light cascaded into their room through the open curtains. With a groan, Shuhei rubbed his eyes with his free hand. With a jolt, he realized that his other hand was pinned underneath Maaka's slim waist. With careful precision as not to wake her up, he shifted out from underneath her. He stripped out of the Dress of Doom and rummaged around in his boxers for the bag of stolen clothes they had picked up the other day. As he was changing, he heard her sit up and stretch, yawning loudly as she did. Not wanting a repeat performance of yesterday morning, he kept his back turned until she was standing next to him, completely changed into long, black jeans and a white tank top. He had chosen a pair of purple and black Tripp pants with the chains clipped on, and a black shirt with some band name printed on it.

"Come on, let's go you useless lump." She put both hands on his back and shoved him out the door and into the elevator. Yawning again, she pressed the lobby button and leaned against the elevator wall, trying not to fall asleep. It was waaaay to early to be up, actually it was a little past one in the afternoon but whatever. The two Shinigami rode in silence, still trying to wake up after their long night of dancing and drinking. "Hey, I wanted to thank you." She said, breaking the peace in the small car. He cast her a look out of the corner of his eye.

"What for?" She lifted a slender shoulder, frowning slightly.

"Yesterday, with those sleazy guys. Guys like that usually assume I'm weak cause I'm small. . . Just thanks," He looked like he was going to say something, but she cut him off. "Just take the compliment, it's not like I give them out lightly." She snapped, turning her face away from him and glaring at the wall. Shuhei raised an eyebrow but said nothing as the doors slid open. Amaji and Kira were sitting on the chairs by the door. Kira had stripped out of the horrid dress as well, and was dolled up, looking all emo in his black and red Tripp pants.

"Finally! We've been down here for a half an hour!" The redhead said, jumping to her feet. Kira stood calmly, not saying a word as usual. Maaka rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Ever hear of coming up to wake us yourself?" She said with a cocky grin. Amaji frowned at the shorter, more annoying Shinigami.

"I /did/. You two sleep like the fucking dead! I knocked on the door and yelled. Some lady threatened to call the police!" Shuhei coughed, an obvious attempt to hide a laugh, even Kira smiled. Maaka shrugged again before tucking her arms behind her head.

"So, where do we go today, Mon Capitan?" She asked, looking at Amaji. Her friend didn't answer, she just beckoned for them to follow her. Giving each other looks of confusion, the three Shinigami followed Amaji out of the hotel and down the street. She walked quickly and quietly down the street, the others trailing behind, until she reached a dead end.

"/This/," She said, waving her hand upward. "Is what we are doing today my friends." She said with a grin. Behind her, stood the gates of a very large amusement park. A few coasters and a Ferris wheel could be seen among other, smaller rides. Maaka smirked, watching the long line of people waiting for admission crawl forward.

"I think we can find another way in huh?" She said, earning her a sharp blow to the head from the other woman.

"No, we'll be doing this like humans you dolt!" She snapped, grabbing her friend by the shirt and dragging her into the Long Line of Doom.


	7. Chapter 7

000

Amaji jumped about, after waiting half an hour in line, they finally made it into the park and were prepared for a fun day. Well, three of them and the dull man willingly being dragged along. Amaji jumped, running towards the first ride placed in front of them and her favorite, the carousel. Skipping like a little kid, something grabbed her collar and yanked her back, choking the life out of her as she did so. Being yanked back, she turned to see Shuhei giving her a freaky look, Maaka behind them laughing to herself.

"We wait forever in line, and you want to ride the plastic pony express? No, we go on /that/!" He pointed upwards and Amaji looked over to see the roller coaster that dropped nearly three hundred feet to the ground. A train went down, and she could here the kids on it screaming from all the way over here. Unable to free herself from his grip, he started to drag her away from her horses to the evil ride. Kira and Maaka followed, watching her struggle against his grasp.

"No, stop! Horses, ride, now! No, gah, let me go! Kira, Maaka, help!" She squeaked, her voice rising an octave as she struggled. She was literally dragged all the way to the ride and then forced on it by Maaka and Kira, shoved into a seat with some dorky nerd, and stuck on the ride from beginning to end. Once off, Kira was forced to help Amaji out as she stumbled around motion sick. Never again was she riding that thing, no, not until she died. Again. She followed along dully as they made their way to another, less of a drop roller coaster, with more turns and spins. Something Amaji didn't mind.

"How about something less, rickety next okay?" She grumbled stumbling after to the group and hanging onto Maaka for support. Maaka laughed, and looked at her pathetic friend.

"What's wrong with rickety, you're more likely to fall off!" She knew Amaji had height and motion issues, but of course both problems were blatantly ignored for a good day at the amusement park. On the next coaster, she was dragged on and was forced to sit with Kira this time, Maaka refusing to sit next to Kira or her ill friend. They rode that twice, and soon made their way down to the food court to replenish the redhead's empty stomach. All three laughed at her queasiness, even Kira laughed with a smile. Amaji wasn't too thrilled though, she ordered a hoard of food and shared none as she gobbled it down, anticipating the next few rides they wanted to go on. She did get to mention one though, and they all agreed to it.

"What about the haunted mansion, I heard it's actually not half bad." Through a mouthful of macaroni, she laughed and went back to stuffing her face. Kira rolled his eyes and wiped her face with a napkin like cleaning up a little kid, which Amaji could be classified as such right now anyway. Again, she munched away, the food repapering in moments and Kira gave up. Instead, he turned his attention to Maaka and Shuhei, who were contemplating the next ride.

"Haunted Mansion sounds good, then we can do the Ferris wheel. Whatever we find after that, then the Carousel last." Amaji perked up, and smiled through her food, again returning to the food again when ignored. She finished up, Kira cleaning her face again annoyed with her looks and they all left when Amaji had cleaned her face. Shuhei was looking around, staring at a random woman every now and then, and Amaji kept tripping over something, her own feet or air it didn't matter. Maaka, well, was glaring at Shuhei or laughing at Amaji, and Kira was just amused at everything going on around him. Soon, they came upon the 'Haunted Mansion'.

They sat, two to a car, Amaji ending up next to the blonde man and Maaka ending up with scar face. Amaji and Kira went in first, the redhead looking around for anything that might jump out at her. As they rounded a corner, lights flashed, and something screamed. Out of nowhere, a fake, zombie-looking mannequin popped up next to Amaji. She let out a cry of surprise and jumped away, nearly landing on Kira's lap. Her hand involuntarily curled around his arm as she pulled herself a little closer to him and away from the edge of the car. She already didn't like this place. It wasn't scary, she just didn't like things popping up and startling her out of nowhere. Something flashed into her peripheral vision as they entered a room filled with jungle-like scenery. The same thing flashed in front of the cart for a second before it vanished. Amaji relaxed slightly, loosening her grip on Kira's arm. Out to their left, a witchdoctor-looking man flew out of the bushes, scaring the shit out of Amaji. She let out a shriek and grabbed at Kira again in a bruising grip.

Maaka was bored. This 'haunted mansion' was not all it was cracked up to be. Every so often she would hear Amaji scream up ahead in the other car, and would laugh at the fact that her friend would get scared so easily. The to of them barley flinched as they went through the house. Every so often, Shuhei would jump out of surprise, but other than that, not much happened. However, when they got to the end, a bright flash of light and a loud horn sounded directly in front of them. Maaka let out a loud cry and jumped so high she nearly fell out of her seat. Shuhei had the same fate. They ended up crashing into each other and landing in a little heap in their car. Daylight flooded their senses as the car exited the building. The two moved as far away from each other as they physically could before catching sight of Kira and Amaji.

"Well, that sucked." Maaka said simply, tucking her hands behind her head like she usually did. Kira nodded blandly, showing no emotion. . . as usual. Amaji shrugged.

"It was alright I guess, a little too fake." Shuhei laughed and ran his hand through his dark hair.

"Yeah right, we could hear you screaming from our car, right Maaka?" The smaller woman nodded, a smirk crossing her features. Amaji tried to protest, but was thoroughly ignored in favor of finding a route to the Ferris wheel. They got lost, thanks to Maaka, and it took them double the time to find their way to it.

"Oh, I hate heights." Amaji said, clutching the side of the little car until her knuckles turned white. Her eviler little counterpart smirked and shifted in her seat, making the car rock slightly. Amaji shot the other woman the 'Glare of Death' and grabbed the thin, metal bar a little tighter.

"Oh? You don't like the rocking. . . Amaji-chan?" Maaka shifted even more, drawing out little gasps from the other one. The two men looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Kira shot Maaka a little glare with his ice blue eyes before lightly grabbing the redhead's arm in a soothing fashion. Maaka flicked her orange eyes upward in an eye roll before tucking her chin in her hand, bored. There was nothing to do on this ride. With a sigh, she cast a glance over at Shuhei. He looked just as bored, but he was maintaining a better composure than her. She cracked her neck, and leaned back, tilting her head over the edge.

"Hey, what are the chances that if I lean back far enough, I'll go over the rail?" She asked, pushing her body up so that most of her top half was upside-down in midair. Amaji let out a little cry of annoyance before lunging forward and grabbing her friend, dragging her back into the car.

"Would you sit still?" She snapped. "We're almost at the ground." This was true, in a matter of minutes, the four of them were getting unloaded from the car. "Now then, I know where we can go, follow me." the redhead said with a smile laced with evil. She grabbed Maaka by the wrist and promptly dragged her off, the two men trailing behind.


	8. Chapter 8

Amaji dragged the group along a route. Each of them was suspicious that she secretly knew where she was going. As they all looked at each other, Amaji finally made a sharp turn by a shooting ducks booth and they came up on a building that had a giant heart surrounding the doors. Everything about the building was pink, hearts, and love themed. Three of the group stopped, Amaji turning with a grin and dragged each and every one of them, literally, to the building.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" She squealed like a little girl getting a pony for her birthday. All three groaning, she dragged them through the three minute line until they made it in, a little river flowing with heart shaped boats riding the slow current. She ended up stuck in front with Kira, and Maaka was placed with the scarred man in the back of them, and the ride began at a slow, calming, 'romantic', pace. She sat impatiently beside Kira who was looking around quietly, though there wasn't much to see besides dark shadows or glowing hearts hanging from the ceiling. She poked him, getting bored, as Kira reached out and gently splashed the water, flicking what was left on his hand at Amaji causing them both to laugh slightly. She splashed him some then turned around to stare back at the boat behind them. Kira raised a brow, then shrugged and went back to toying with the water contentedly.

Amaji swayed the boat as she tried to see behind her little heart-shaped voyager, seeing the wooden love symbol carrying her friends about ten feet back. Able to see the boat, she couldn't see the people within. As she tried to further her range of sight, she rocked the boat a little more menacingly and Kira grasped the side as the tipped slightly, grunting over to Kira with a scolding look. She couldn't see him though, not their friends behind. She pulled forward a little more, toes now almost slipping for lack of support, and suddenly the boat tipped over dragging the blonde and Amaji down with it. There was a loud splash as everything tumbled over, people and all, and the two Shinigami behind leaned forward at the sound of he splash.

"Uh, what happened?" Shuhei voiced Maaka's thoughts. She leaned over the edge, looking ahead to just see the ripples of the accident of the boat ahead. He looked over into the red lit water, seeing the ripples that managed that far the distance. Whatever hearts managed to say intact in the unsettled water vanished as a hand rushed out of the murky liquid and grasped at Shuhei's head tugging him over and into the water. Maaka whipped around at the sound of his falling yelp, watching water gush over the side of the boat as he disappeared below the edge of the crimson wood. Another splash and a loud shriek resonated off the lovey-dovey walls as two arms reached out from below and grasped around the small woman's waist. She pulled over abruptly and landed in the semi-shallow river as the boat floated by; ignoring the missing passengers as it kept going intended to do its part of the ride. Moments later, after everything had quieted down and the water had stilled, two wet forms popped out of the water gasping for air while two others slithered out on the edge and patted each other's back. Maaka and Shuhei turned, sputtering and choking as they growled, towards the pair on the red-lighted shore who were quietly snickering over their success. They could barely make out what the two evil ones were saying. Thankfully the lull of the 'romantic music' wasn't loud enough to drown them out.

"Thanks, I wouldn't have made it without you." Kira, from the looks of it, nodded in return.

"Something for me to do while I almost floated away. Romance isn't exactly my thing." Amaji snickered and they watched her form shiver in laughter.

"So I've noticed. Don't worry; you'll fid a nice simplistic girl suitable for you in no time." Maaka and Shuhei could just imagine Kira blushing while Amaji laughed quietly looking at him in some weird way. Tired of this, and pissed at being soaked in fucking love tunnel, they trudged forward and attacked the two on the shore. Maaka managed to pin Amaji down under her smaller frame.

"What is the matter with you?" She said, twisting her black hair to get the dirty water out of it. The disgusting liquid dripped all over Amaji. The redhead laughed and squirmed under Maaka's weight.

"I fell out of the boat," She said simplistically, making the raven sigh in exasperation. "And we decided that you should share in the fun!" Shuhei snorted and released Kira from the full nelson he had him locked in.

"Fun? What part of this pink and red nightmare was supposed to be fun?" He waved at all the gaudy decorations. Amaji snickered.

"The part where you two were supposed to kiss!" She said with glee, wiggling out from under Maaka. Her friend's orange eye went wide as she cast a look back at Shuhei, who was quickly turning the same red as the tunnel. Kira let out a little chuckle and stood up, shaking out his semi-long blonde hair. He helped Amaji to her feet before wandering through the tunnel, trying to find their way out and leaving their friends behind to their awkward conversation sure to come. Shuhei pulled Maaka into a standing position, avoiding her gaze.

"Um," Was all the Shinigami could think to say. He rubbed the back of his neck, still red. "Why would she think that we. . ." He couldn't finish his sentence as they began to walk out of the tunnel. Maaka shook her head and tucked her bangs out of her face.

"I don't know. She's weird like that," Suddenly, a smile broke out on her face, scaring Shuhei a little. "She and Blondie will probably end up an item before we /ever/ do." She flailed her hands for emphasis. Bright sunlight attacked their eyes as they made their way outside. Amaji and Kira were sitting close on a bench, wringing out their clothes. "Told you." Maaka said quietly to Shuhei. The dark haired man laughed and shook his head, spraying her with droplets of water. The shorter woman let out a cry of protest and shoved him away from her, smiling as she did. The smile fell and turned into an embarrassed cough when she caught the look on Amaji's face. Her friend had a knowing grin on her face.

"So, where are we going next?" Kira asked, unknowingly saving the small woman from utter humiliation. Shuhei made his way over, cracking his back as he did.

"Ugh, that's so gross!" Maaka said, flinching away with a grimace.

"Sorry," He said, not sounding sorry at all. "Well, I'm actually pretty tired. How about we go on that carousel thing Amaji wanted to go on, then head back?" At the mention of the carousel, Amaji leapt to her feet, clapping her hands.

"Yay! Let's go!" She grabbed Maaka by the wrist and sped away, leaving the boys to fend for themselves.


	9. Chapter 10

We redid a little bit of this chapter, so I had to get rid of the older one

* * *

OOO

Maaka grimaced as she climbed onto the rotating platform riddled with odd creatures she was supposed to sit on. She walked around for a minute before choosing to climb up onto a silver horse. She smiled; the thing reminded her of the silver haired freak in the bar who wanted the marshmallow. Suddenly, she felt weight being added behind her, and arms went around her waist. Twisting around, she saw dark eyes and a cocky grin.

"What the hell, Hisagi?" She said with a glare, trying to break free from his arms. "Get off!" He laughed in her ear, his warm breath making her shiver unexpectedly. She didn't want him this close to her, it was . . . distracting.

"Why should I? It's comfy here." He said with another laugh. Maaka shivered again before violently thrashing to no avail. Amaji sauntered up next to them.

"Aw, how cute." She said with a grin, reaching around them to click the safety belt around both of their waists and wrists, locking them in place. The second they were restrained, Shuhei's demeanor changed drastically.

"Hey! Let me off this thing! I don't want to be stuck here with her!" He cried, struggling against the accursed thing. Pleased with herself, the damn redhead went and perched herself on a fake lion and waited for the ride to start. Kira sat on top of one of those sleighs and watched his friend and Maaka struggle in vain. The ride operator obviously didn't care about their predicament, because he started the ride. Maaka cursed Amaji and tried to cut through the strap with her nails. She desperately wished she had her Zanpakuto with her. Damn Gigai!

"You just had to climb up here didn't you?!" She snapped at Shuhei, accidentally elbowing him in the gut as she pulled her hands. The redhead laughed and sat across from them, closing her eyes and rocking with the ride.

"I hardly think this is my fault!" He retaliated. He couldn't pull back, because he'd end up knocking the wind out of the smaller Shinigami and thus pissing her off more.

"Amaji! Get back here and untie this damn strap!!" She shrieked, twisting her arms. Amaji tucked her chin into her hands and stared at her hotheaded friend.

"Nah, this is interesting!" She said, grinning. Kira was sitting just behind her, a small smile on his usually expressionless face. After a few minutes of watching them struggle he leaned over a muttered something into her ear. She cast the two a look before breaking out into loud laughter. "Alright I like the sound of that! I'll let you up on one condition . . . you have to kiss." Maaka twisted and took one look at Shuhei before thrashing much more viciously.

"I'd rather die!" Her voice rang out very loud. Not loud enough; however, to drown out the audible ripping sound of the strap from the metal pole. With a cry of rage, Maaka leapt out at her friend, good eye flashing with anger. Amaji let out a little yelp before jumping backwards and off the ride, making the operator yell at her. He didn't have long to react to her, before Maaka flew out after her, screaming obscenities. The ride having come to an abrupt stop, the two men looked out and watched the angry woman chase the redhead out of the park, grabbing anything she could and throwing it. Giving each other a look, Kira and Shuhei took off after their captors. They came across the two Gigai's, lying in the middle of the street. Apparently, they had discarded the fake bodies in an attempt to move quicker. With loud sighs, they scooped up the bodies and began to carry them down the street.

"Where do you think they went?" Kira asked, looking around the crowded Tokyo streets. His companion stood up straighter, trying to see over everyone.

"I dunno, but if we listen, I think we can hear Maaka's yelling." He said, dropping down to his feet and running his hand through his dark hair. He heard Kira's quiet chuckle even over the noise of the streets. Up ahead, bricks fell off of a tall building, crashing into the ground a few feet in front of some humans.

"Found them." Kira said, pointing to the dark haired woman standing on the side of said building. Amaji was sitting in midair a little ways in front of her, gasping for air.

"That was a dirty trick, ditching your Gigai!" She said in between pants, tilting her head to stare at the other woman. Maaka just wiped the sweat off her forehead before glaring at Amaji again.

"What part of your little stunt was supposed to be 'clean'?" She said, her eye flashing dangerously. Her friend seemed to think about this before shrugging.

"I dunno," She said, standing up and dusting her pants off. "I'm hungry." She said out of nowhere, rubbing her skinny belly.

"Well then let's go eat! I'm starving!" Shuhei yelled from the street, making both of them turn to stare at the men. Maaka sighed before making her way back down with Amaji. When they had caught up with Kira and Shuhei, the short woman held out her hand.

"My body," She said, twitching her fingers. Shuhei lowered the lifeless corpse to the ground with surprising care. Maaka raised an eyebrow at that; normally he would just drop the thing without a thought. "I'm amazed nobody said anything about your screaming into the sky." She easily avoided his half hearted swipe and smirked.

"That's because they're all afraid of him. Look at his face, how are you not terrified of that?" Amaji threw in with a laugh. Kira cracked a smile before lightly tugging on the redhead's arm.

"Come on, let's go eat." He said simply, saving his friend from future embarrassment. With a grin, Amaji linked arms with Maaka, who grabbed Shuhei by the wrist (purposely avoiding his hand and waist). Together, the four of them began to walk down the road, looking for a place to eat.

OOO

The group walked into a little Suchi/Ramen bar on a side street, supporting only a bar and about eight chairs to sit on. Amaji plopped down randomly, already deciding where she wanted to eat, and the rest were forced to follow. She'd pocketed Maaka's stolen wallets when they were in the Love Tunnel, picking up on her friend's skills. Kira was to her left, Maaka to her right and Shuhei to the farthest right, apparently preferring a comfortable spot next to the shorter woman. Shrugging, Amaji ordered three bowls of Ramen, each a different flavor. Kira simply got Sushi, and Maaka ordered Sweet and Sour chicken, a large plate at that. Shuhei didn't order anything though, for some odd reason. When they started digging in, Kira was soon swiftly finished, Maaka and Amaji having issues finishing theirs as fast. Amaji started ordering another bowl, starving apparently, earning a stare from the entire group. She didn't notice, and instantly started munching the second she got her noodles, slurping away in complete bliss.

"Is she always such a pig?" Shuhei questioned, hand slowly moving towards Maaka's chicken only to have them slapped away by chopsticks, the cracking sound not too pleasant. Maaka snorted, munching on another bit of chicken giving Amaji a look as she ordered another bowl, this time shrimp filled.

"Yet she's still a skinny bitch, makes you wonder." She started to nom another piece when she caught Shuhei's hand headed for her food again and smacked it away more forcefully this time, the hand retreating as he rubbed it pitifully. Amaji stopped mid-munch, and cast her friend a glare. Maaka laughed at the noodles dangling from her friend's mouth, noticing Kira behind her giving the read head a strange look.

"It's all thanks to you, trying to kill me and all. Keeps me in shape." She went back to nibbling away at her Ramen, content with her precious food. Gaping at the odd woman, Maaka didn't catch Shuhei stealing a small bit of chicken until it was nearly down his throat. She whipped around and battered at his head with her little wooden weapons as he pulled away and dodged the mini swords. Sighing, a noodle dangling from her lip, Amaji quietly belched and leaned back content with her fill. Her eyes fluttered shut as she rubbed her slightly bloated belly, licking her lips and missing the still perched piece of Ramen. Whilst Shuhei and Maaka battled it out with newly acquired chopsticks, Kira decided to enter the little scene and reached a hand out so that it was hovering over Amaji's head. Peeking her left eye open at the light leaking the sensory of her eyelids, Amaji watched his hand lower so that he plucked away the noodle bit and brought his hand back, staring at the piece of leftover food.

"Thanks, now it'll go to waste." She chuckled, slowly sitting up and offering out a hand to take back the noodle she'd never noticed. Kira cast her a glance but didn't offer it back, Maaka and Shuhei pausing their war to turn and stare at Kira. From all the attention, a tint attacked his cheeks and Amaji cocked her head. Shuhei was mouthing 'Eat it' at him whilst Maaka nodded and whispered 'Go on, do it' to him. Kira looked down at the noodle, blush gone, and cast Amaji a glance. He handed the noodle back to Amaji, turning away without a word and a blank expression. Amaji wasn't about to let that pass.

"Sure, you don't want it? To eat, I mean" She gave him an odd look, wondering why the hell he'd want to eat something that was just recovered from her mouth, but shrugged and offered the noodle back. He wouldn't want anything to do with that noodle from her point of view, but it was worth a shot. From behind the red-head, again Maaka and Shuhei were encouraging him behind her back. The dunce didn't even realize it. Shuhei was pointing into his mouth, and Maaka was grinning shaking her head vigorously for him to eat it. He looked over one last time at the noodle, and shook his head, pushing the noodle back at her. But just to make sure she wouldn't pass it to him again, he pushed his bowl of Ramen towards her, having not finished.

"Not very hungry, you can have it." She took the bowl excitedly at the thought of more food and swallowed the thing instantly, smacking her lips together and thanking Kira for her last morsel before she had to get up and go pay. She left him to fend for himself against Maaka's and Shuhei's disapproving thoughts. As Amaji left earshot and saving Grace's range, both Shinigami verbally lunged at the blonde and started babbling about how big a fool he was.

"You should have taken it and eaten it you dumbass! Don't you like her?" Maaka growled, already regretting leaning over to yell at him. Shuhei was hovering over her, weight gently pushing down on her back as he scolded the quieter man. As he pounded away at Kira's silent and depressing ego, Maaka was slowly being pushed down on her chair until she was belly flat dangling onto the chair Amaji had been sitting in. She bucked up and sent Shuhei flying back, glaring over to the fallen man and ready to again to lash out verbally at Kira when Amaji popped up from around the corner, wallet in hand. When he paid more attention to Maaka, she called him again.

"Izuru?" Involuntary twitch, on Maaka's behalf. Kira turned around and Amaji smiled warmly, holding out a bowl of Ramen. "Though I'd pay you back, that last bowl really filled me up, dunno if I'll be able to run when I say it looked earlier like Shuhei was already trying to practice on Maaka, preparing for the actual act." A shriek later, her theory was tested when Maaka went lunging after the girl, Amaji running for dear life on heavy feet as the two males stood up and started to walk away from the small stall, stomachs filled as well. It took only two minutes to reach the hotel due to Maaka's threats and Amaji's yelps of fear, every now and then leaping back towards the taller guys for a momentary hiding spot. Soon, they made their way up to their rooms, and thus started a war over who slept with whom in what room.


	10. Chapter 11

OOO

"I'm _not _going to spend a night with Doom and Gloom! _You're _the one that wants him!" Maaka said with a huff. The foursome had just made their way into the hotel lobby, still arguing over sleeping arrangements. Amaji let out a dry squeak.

"I- I do _not_ want him!" She said, trying not to lose the verbal battle with the evil woman. Said woman laughed and crossed her arms under her breasts.

"Please," She said, annoyance apparent in her tone. "You're such a liar. You may be smart, but you're _not_ good at being a conniving little bitch… I am." She missed Shuhei nodding away behind her. Amaji resisted the urge to throw something at him.

"Fine," The redhead said with a light sigh. "I'll sleep with Kira… Not like that!" She called as Maaka skipped away, laughing at the top of her lungs.

OOO

Maaka threw open the door to their room and flopped down on the bed, letting out a happy sigh. The soft mattress felt great on her tired body. A soft 'thump' and the bed sagging as more weight was added to it let her know that Shuhei had lain down next to her. Because he was a good ninety pounds next to her, he made the bed sag so much that she actually rolled down and settled against his side. He let out a tired sound and moved so his arms were stretched over his head, furthering how close she was to him.

"You're warm." He said in a tired voice, moving even closer to her. She sighed and closed her eye, liking his close presence. No! This wasn't right! In a flash, she rolled away from him and stood up.

"I'm taking a shower." She announced, making her way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against the sink and let out a sigh. Skillfully, she peeled off the bandage over her left eye and threw it out, making a note that she needed to replace it. She then proceeded to strip and twist the shower on. Stepping into the stream of warm water, the Shinigami ran her hands through her long black hair, feeling good. Her skin still felt a little warm from where she was lying next to Shuhei. With a little cry of annoyance, she smacked herself in the face. She could not be thinking like this! He was a captive, under her care, she could not get involved. She needed to get the nasty water from the lovey dovey tunnel out of her hair and off her skin. After she had scrubbed with sweet smelling soap and cleaned her hair with shampoo that smelled like apples, Maaka turned the knob off and stepped out of the shower. She was running a towel over her hair when the door opened, unknown to her.

"Wow, you have a nice ass." She jumped about a foot in the air at his voice. Immediately, she dropped the towel around her waist and whipped around. Shuhei was leaning on the doorframe, smiling at her.

"Knocking Hisagi, you should learn it!" She snapped, flailing her arms in annoyance. Angrily, she pushed past him and grabbed for a yukata hanging on the bathroom wall. She heard him chuckle before she put her hand on his chest. With a mighty push she sent him flying backwards into the room. Satisfied when he hit the opposite wall, the woman shut and locked the bathroom door. As quickly as she could- because, for all she knew, the bastard would just take the door off its hinges- she stripped and slipped into the soft silk yukata. With a sigh, she wiped the fog off the mirror and studied her reflection in the mirror. Lightly, she prodded her empty left eye socket, and wasn't all that surprised when it didn't hurt. She let out a groan and set her long bangs over it, as not to freak out Shuhei. Opening the door, she saw said man lying in the middle of the bed with his eyes closed. He cracked an eye open when he heard her approach the bed.

"That hurt you know." He said, making a show of rubbing his chest. She shot him a glare before sitting Indian style on the edge of the bed.

"Good." She said simply, shaking her hair out and splashing him with droplets of water. "Maybe now you'll learn to fucking knock."

"Why are you so mean to me?" His voice was filled with mock hurt. Maaka rolled her eye and let out an angry sound.

"Because you annoy me." She stated with a little shrug. Alright it was a little harsh, and maybe not the whole truth, but whatever.

"How do I annoy you?" He asked, rolling onto his knees. In this position, they were facing each other. They were also about six inches from the other one. The girl raised an eyebrow and tilted her head about a quarter of a degree.

"By talking."

"Should have guessed that one." He said with a little smile. Against everything she had been told about keeping distance from the captives, she smiled too. Shuhei raised an eyebrow. He had never really seen her smile; it was usually sarcastic, sadistic. He realized that he really liked her smile, it was cute. Surprising, on such a scary face. No, that wasn't true. Her face was riddled with small scars, but it was far from scary. The scars seemed to be more like reminders of battle. Besides, he'd be a hypocrite if he said she was ugly because of those scars. He was suddenly filled with a compulsion to touch her cheek; just to see if it was soft or not.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her voice broke his thoughts suddenly. His eyes left the long scar just under her eye to study her whole face. She was giving him a curious look, the bright orange eye looking him over.

"Huh?" Shaking his head, he blinked a few times. He expected her to mock him or berate him for not listening to him. What she said surprised him a little.

"You looked like you were going to kiss me," Maaka's voice came out very soft. One hand came down to rest in between them as she leaned forward just an inch or so. Shuhei recoiled slightly from that statement. Did he? Of course not! She was a controlling, evil, conniving, bitch! She attacked him mercilessly, had hauled his ass to Hueco Mundo and was always trying to kill him. But, in the past few days, he had seen something else; a different side of her. This side smiled, laughed, and was actually kind… to an extent. She also wasn't too bad at dancing. Something inside his brain clicked: he wanted to kiss _that_ Maaka. But he had no idea which side was her. Sure, it could all be an act. For all he knew, she was just softening him up for the slaughter. "Hello? Hisagi?" Again, she brought him back from the brink of majorly over thinking. Without considering anything, he brought his hand down on top of hers, squeezing her slender finger gently.

"I hate it when you call me that. It's just Shuhei." He leaned in so that their lips were practically touching. He could feel her holding her breath. "What's the matter?" He asked, smiling slightly. "Had nobody ever gotten this close to you, Maaka-_chan_?" His voice made her shiver. He had the most amazing voice for this kind of thing. It was low and husky, just right to send chills deep into her bones.

"What are you waiting for? Never done this with a _woman_? You could just pretend I'm _Kira_." She hissed, matching his tone. They were so close that she could practically _feel_ his laugh this time.

"That would be bad. I imagine kissing Kira would be a lot like kissing a marble statue," His hand left hers and gently brushed against her cheek. He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face upward. "You on the other hand: you're warm. I think kissing you would be-" He was cut off by the woman. She leaned in the last inch or so and pressed their lips together. It wasn't a deep kiss. It was just the sweet caress of two lips pressed against each other.

"A lot like that." She finished for him as she pulled away. "Kissing me would be a lot like that." Suddenly, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her nearly into his lap. He collapsed sideways, taking her with, so that they were lying on the bed. Maaka almost questioned him, before she realized that he just wanted to sleep. With a little sigh, she turned so that the two of them were facing each other. She pushed herself a little closer to his chest.

"Goodnight, Shuhei-kun." She said softly, lightly entwining their fingers.

* * *

Alright! It's about damn time they got something started


	11. Chapter 12

OOO

The steady rhythm of someone breathing served as Maaka's alarm clock. Sometime during the night, she had managed to maneuver herself so that she was lying on Shuhei's chest. She smiled and sat up, pressing the heel of her hand into her eye. Suddenly, the weight of every event last night pressed down onto her.

"Oh shit." Somehow she managed to leap off of the bed without waking him up. Fighting the urge to panic, she made her way out into the hallway. Now, the urge began to surface though her completely shattered willpower. Using it as motivation, Maaka took off, running down through the stairwell. In a second or so, she was pounding on Amaji and Kira's door.

"Amaji! Open the fucking door!" She cried, starting to bang harder. It opened before she had time to pull her fist back. Her hand connected with the hard bone of Kira's forehead, making a loud 'cracking' sound. She sidestepped him, allowing him to fall to the ground. "Wake the fuck up!" She cried, leaping onto the bed. She began to shake her redheaded friend. Dark, crimson eyes snapped open.

"Let go of me!" She cried, knocking the smaller hands away. "What the hell do you-?"

"I kissed Shuhei." Maaka cut her off. She spilled everything, too absorbed in it that she didn't even notice Kira sitting in the corner.

"Maaka, it'll be fine." Amaji soothed, after listening to her friend rant quietly for nearly an hour about what had happened. She patted the shorter woman's back and sighed, shifting so that she was now holding Maaka on her lap with Maaka's head on her shoulder and back on her chest.. It was uncomfortable for them both, but Amaji new a trick behind the gesture. Just as her brother had done for her, and she stifled a sigh at the memories she still held onto.

"What the hell are you doing?" Maaka gripped, not comfortable in the position Amaji had placed her in. "I'm un-comfy." Amaji laughed a bit, knowing the exact feeling.

"Something my brother did when I was upset when younger, so upset I would listen when talked to or just in a notion to comfort me, even though it wasn't exactly comfortable. Maaka twitched, but didn't struggle in Amaji's grasp.

"You're comforting me by making me uncomfortable?" Maaka ground out, nearly laughing at the stupid idea. Amaji laughed, knowing the feeling.

"Sort of ironic, but its working isn't it?" Maaka was quite for a moment, then growled quietly and relaxed into the arms Amaji supported her with. Arms pressed gently against the smaller girls back as they gently soothed her, and the blonde peeked up at Kira who was sitting in the corner staring into space, slightly dazed from being beaten earlier and unintentionally hearing the little woman's' rant. Thinking back to Shuhei, his partner, Amaji sighed and waved one hand widely to grasp his attention. It too a minute, but he managed to notice the little gesture and looked over to her dully. 'Come get her, now.' She mouthed as his one visible eyebrow raised. It then furrowed and he shook his head, not wanting to interfere with this whole mess or be part of it. That or be near Maaka in a pissy mood. Amaji glared at him and he glared back, actually glared back, and Amaji's spiritual pressure flared a bit in warning. He seemed to say something under his breath but stood up slowly and walked over, staring down at the two girls on the bed. '

What do I do?' He mouthed back; seemingly pouting but Amaji knew him better then that. He pointed at Amaji who looked up at Kira with a glare, causing him to take a step back, and mouthed back 'You keep her company and cheer her up. Do something non emo for her, I'll be right back.' If he understood that, she should learn to give him more credit. Amaji smiled curtly and thank him as she handed Maaka over to the now sitting Kira, whom squirmed for a moment before relaxing into Kira's lap and grumbling over what the hell Amaji was doing. Amaji looked down at the pair, laughing. Kira was holding Maaka to his chest, as Amaji had instructed, gloom and fear written all over his face. Maaka was glaring at Amaji, but not struggling against Kira's embrace. With one last giggle, Amaji was out the door. "Okay, I'll never see that again. Maaka nice to Kira, the world really is ending for her." She trudged upstairs, in her pajamas that consisted of high shorts and a cami that was just a little too small. "And maybe I can catch Shuhei by surprise!" Making it to whatever floor Shuhei currently resided on, she growled and kicked open the door, nearly bruising her foot in the process, and laughed when the door slammed to the floor and Shuhei whipped around from his hovering position over the bed. For a moment he gawked, Amaji showing off a little more skin then usual, before a knee collided with his gut and he toppled over holding his stomach. He looked up wide eyes as Amaji grasped his collar and dragged him up.

"How dare you hurt her, you fucking ass. I should kill you, but then Gin- then some people would kill me. That's not on my agenda considering how upset she is!" She hissed at him, bringing her fist upward to pound his chest and he went flying back a few feet from the power of the punch. He let out a groan and when he opened his eyes, currently laying flat against that floor, Amaji was hovering over him with a cynical grin. She brought her foot forward to kick him in the groin and he cried out as he went flying back towards the wall and crashed into it with a painful sounding crack. "How dare you! Remember, you're our captive! I love playing with captives! Are you some fool who thinks you can get away with tormenting the one who's keeping you locked up?!" One last kick to the jaw and Amaji was content, and she was on her way out. A little blood ended up on her foot, and she dragged her foot on the carpeted floor on her way all the way back down.


	12. Chapter 13

**Amaji: Sorry it's been so long!**

**Maaka: Our LARPer's are lazy motherfuckers so it took a while-**

**Anna: Who the fuck are you calling lazy? It took you eleven chapters to kiss a guy!**

**Sara: Wow, you're arguing with a figment of your own immagination**

**Amaji: And losing**

**Anna: Shut up! I am _not_ losing! **

**Maaka: It took me so long because you're a chicken!**

**Anna: What?!**

**Maaka:Whatever, can we just give them the warning? **

**Amaji: Warning?**

**Maaka: God! you call yourself smart?! **

**Amaji: *twitch twitch*Watch yourself, shrimp!**

**Sara: Enough! The warning is that there's some... wait for it... nudity!**

**Anna: Yay! I love naked guys!**

**Amaji & Sara: *sweatdrop***

* * *

Amaji pulled open the hotel room door to find the two Shinigami sitting on the bed, facing the door.

"What did you do?" Maaka asked, sounding more like herself. The redhead shrugged.

"I put him in his place. How dare he?!" A dark eyebrow rose. Then the bizarre happened: Maaka started to laugh… maniacally.

"You- you _what?" _She gasped out between bursts of laughter. Kira kind of scooted away from her, looking at her like she was insane. He had no clue how right he was. Amaji's angry flame went out completely as she watched Maaka fall backward onto the bed, still laughing her little ass off.

"What's so funny?" She asked, gaping at her smaller friend. Maaka waved her hand in the air as she fought for breath. After a few moments, she rolled onto her knees, panting slightly.

"You didn't hurt him… did you?" Amaji's face gave everything away to Maaka. Damn long-term friends. Maaka sighed and got off the bed. "I'll go make sure you didn't kill him." The door clicked shut behind her as she left the room. A soft chuckle broke the usual science between Amaji and the blonde. Amaji turned around to stare at Kira. One pale hand was covering his mouth as he laughed.

"You think this is funny?" Amaji snapped, giving him a cold glare. Kira coughed and slowly nodded his head.

"A little bit, yeah." He said with a tiny smile. It was so unexpected… and cute, that Amaji just had to smile too.

OOO

"Oh wow, she really did a number on you huh?" Maaka had to bite her bottom lip extremely hard to prevent herself from laughing as she opened to door to the lieutenant's room. The dark haired man was sitting on his bed, rubbing at his cheek.

"Fuck you." He muttered, giving her a glare. This did nothing to the hostile woman, who merely smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"It's too early for that. Unless of course… you wanna make it worth my while." Her pointed canines became exposed as she grinned at him. Unfortunately, he was in no mood to joke around.

"I'll fucking murder her." He grumbled, prodding purple flesh. Maaka rolled her good eye and made her way over to his bed. Lightly, she hooked her fingers under his chin and pulled his face upward to study the damage. His lower lip was bleeding, as well as a small cut above his eye; a lot of his face was turning a slight shade of purple. With a small sigh, Maaka crawled onto the bed, straddling Shuhei while continuing to study his face. Molding her lips into a slight frown, Maaka wet the tip of her yukata's sleeve with saliva.

"Hold still." She commanded gently, beginning to wipe the drying blood off of his face. His black eyes watched her face as she fretted over him. After a few seconds, she sat back and sighed, tucking her long bangs out of her face. Her eye slipped closed for a second, and Shuhei was once again amazed by her rough beauty.

"Maaka, you have to get up, I need to take a shower." He said suddenly, not wanting her to notice the 'problem' that was slowly starting to get more and more noticeable. With a small, knowing smile, and a little sigh, the small woman slid off to the side to sit on the plush bed. Hisagi was vaguely aware of a panther like, orange, eye watching him as he entered the bathroom. She waited until she heard the water begging to run before an idea forced its way into her brain. With a cat-like smirk, Maaka slid off the bed and onto the floor. With quiet footsteps, she made her way over to the bathroom door. In her twisted little mind, this was the perfect revenge for all the times Shuhei had seen her naked… not that she minded the opportunity to see the man. As quietly as possible, she pulled the door open and slipped inside the steamy bathroom.

The little pervert was content to watch the lieutenant's silhouette as he showered, but she was _not_ willing to pass up a chance to see a hot, naked guy. She slightly shook her head, pushing that thought out of her head. Leaning against the door, she made herself comfy, hidden in the steam for a few more minutes, until the spray of the shower stopped. Quickly, she moved out of his line of sight and waited until the glass door of the shower opened. Maaka had to clap her hand over her mouth and nose to prevent any escaping sounds as she gazed at Hisagi Shuhei in all his naked glory. Her eyes hungrily scanned his muscles as he fluidly moved to get a towel.

"Wow, Hisagi. I didn't know you were so built." She said suddenly, not wanting to pass the chance up. The man jumped at her unexpected voice, spinning around to stare at the grinning woman leaning up against the wall. "How do you like it when someone scopes you out?" Her only answer was the not-so-subtle reddening of his cheeks. With a laugh, Maaka pushed off the wall and walked past him, letting her sword-calloused fingers drag slowly over his exposed chest.

"You- you little pervert!" He managed to call out after. Her response was a laugh as she left to sit on his bed again, waiting for him to leave the bathroom.

* * *

A/N

Ah, a naked Hisagi, my life is complete, as is Maaka's. Next chapter they'll be some Kira action, i promise!


	13. Chapter 14

Amaji sighed, watching Kira try to regain his usual gloomy composure but failed as small chuckles made their way through the hand barring his mouth. She shrunk unto the floor, shaking her head and waiting for him to be his normal self again, and he was the only person in their little group she pretty much knew she could call normal. It took another moment, but he stopped laughing (sounded more like giggling to her) and managed a decent smile at her while Amaji raised an eyebrow.

"Dare I ask, what you think is so funny?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she slumped even further to the floor until she was sitting beside the bed Indian style, Kira smiling faintly down at her. When she had managed to walk over to the bed, she didn't know, but who cared, Kira wasn't much more a threat then that scarred asshole. The blonde's shadow loomed over her smaller frame as Kira shifted to look down on her.

"You just beat the shit out of him for no reason. He was my instructor back in the academy, a sort of 'role-model' if you may. And you beat him up, for no important reason." He shrugged, Amaji side-glancing at him from her little spot and snorting. Again the shadow shifted, but this time Amaji really didn't care.

"He hurt her, and I don't care in what way. He should not have done that, plain as day. So he was punished. I thought you were smart?" Acting more childish, she sulked remembering how upset Maaka was and feeling helpless over not being able to do much more then beat the hell out of Shuhei.

"Was that an excuse just to hit something? That sounds more like Maaka style, your anger was aimed more at her being your friend am I correct?" She swiveled her head a bit to look up at the fukutaicho. It was more a serene smile, and a chill ran down Amaji's back. Gin had always mentioned he admired his lieutenant, and Amaji had always wondered why the overly dramatic emo man. The thought that maybe he could read minds frightened her; maybe that was what Gin admired him for? Let's be logical, no person, dead or alive, could read minds. Including things that sparkled*.

"So I'm close to her, she's all I've got left. Everyone from the soul society, they're gone. I've always been the needy, greedy type, having to have someone there. Maaka is that person, and that means I'll do anything to keep her safe and at my side. Sounds like some sappy love story to me though." Sighing, Amaji turned her head completely and looked up to see Kira looking ahead seemingly in thought.

"I guess needing that one person isn't so bad, but why did you leave? I'll be honest when I say I'm curious, though I'd never seen you there."

Coughing, Amaji stood up and climbed onto the bed to sprawl out on the bed beside the blond, feeling he was currently no threat to her. "Because my brother wanted to leave, and again he's always off on business that's why I cling to Maaka. I can't mention exactly why we left, our small group, but I'll say you're safer with us now then in the near future at the Soul Society."

"And I'd never seen you because?"

"Full of questions aren't we? Most likely because I was cooped up in my division, the twelfth where all the freaks and psychos lurk. Next to the Eleventh squad anyway, or my brother. I didn't socialize out of my division." She twitched, trying to get comfortable, and bent her body so that she was curled around his warm body. Head at his legs and knee's hooked around his backside. Closing her eyes, she sighed quietly and made herself comfortable.

"Twelve? I wouldn't have guessed, do you miss them?" Amaji peeked open an eye and stared at his black Shihakusho, remembering the outfit and thinking back on what she used to do in her division.

"More then I'd like to. Mostly Akon and little Rin. Rin always loved candy; he kept me busy on slow days." A small smiled appeared on her lips as again Amaji shifted so that her chest was facing upwards as was her head, but her legs were still curled around his form and her belly facing him. "Heh, I loved Rin so much, like a little brother when my own sibling wasn't around. Do you- do you miss them?"

Kira again stared into space, but his train of thought she assumed was about people he missed. She stared at him for a long time as he thought over his reply, studying his pale features. At least he was calm; unlike that perverted freak Maaka seemed to have a thing for. A thought crossed her mind, wasn't it opposites attract? How wrong was that saying when here it was Maaka had fallen for some freaky pervert and she was slowly admitting to herself that maybe Kira was more to her then she wanted to believe.

"Would you have missed me?" The question came out before Amaji could even register that it came to mind. She wasn't surprised though, and was more afraid of hearing a no then from him being surprised from her question. Kira looked down at her with a soft expression, but nothing Amaji could read. She jerked when his hand hovered slightly over her face, and he pulled back the hand quickly turning his attention to more or so her neckline then her face.

"I don't-"

"Holy shit, what have I walked in on?!" Amaji flew upwards, her body shifting so that when she came up her knees collided with Kira's back and he doubled forward from the impact on his spine. The blond collapsing on the floor holding his back like an old man, the red-head whipped around to see Maaka snickering mischievously at her. A glare returned. "If I had been quiet, would I have seen some emo sex? Damn!"


	14. Chapter 15

"Alright, alright I'm going, I'm going, god! There's no need to push! Ow!" This was the first thing Shuhei heard when Kira and Amaji's door opened. Suddenly, little Maaka came flying out, nearly crashing into the wall opposite the door. "That hurt, you fucking bitch!" She yelled, rubbing her head with a dark pout.

"Wow, and you two are supposed to be friends?" Shuhei asked with a laugh, ignoring her grumbles. She shot him a glare before standing up and dusting her pants off. He gave her a genuine smile before turning his attention back to the door. "Hey, can I ask you something a little personal?"

"What is it?" She asked a little cautiously, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall next to him. The prospect of what he was going to ask kinda scared her just a little bit.

"What happened here?" He reached out and lightly touched the bandages over her bad eye.

"Oh this? It's not really personal. I got attacked by a hollow. It was parasitic, and it was trying to spread it's virus through its point of attack. I had to cut out the infection before I died," She shrugged and turned back to the door just as it opened and a very red Kira walked out. "Was that supposed to be a quickie? Damn, they're not supposed to be _that_ quick!" Maaka gibed, her attitude flipping back to happy. Kira ignored the comment and pointed back toward the room.

"Amaji wants to talk with you." He said blandly. Shrugging, the woman made her way back into the room. As she disappeared, Shuhei turned his attention to his old friend.

"So you and Amaji? I _really_ didn't see that one." The last line was delivered a little sarcastically as he smirked at the blonde. "Then again, she _is _pretty cute." Kira rolled his eyes and lightly nudged Shuhei.

"Yeah, she is. Though I wouldn't recommend saying that when Maaka's in earshot," A thin smile spread across his face. "She'd kick your ass worse than Amaji did." Shuhei chuckled and looked at the door, the makings of a blush starting under his eyes. He found that the more he was with the girls, the more he blushed.

"To be honest, I actually think that little psycho is really something else," Letting out a sigh, the larger man ran a hand through his dark hair. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"What do you mean?" Kira gave him a confused look.

"I think I'm falling for her, Kira. The girl that kidnapped me and dragged me out to a desolate wasteland. The girl who tortures me on a daily basis. Tell me that's just not fucked up."

"It's not," Kira said, giving him a sideways look. "Think about it: we've been with them for God knows how long, they're the only female interaction in these past months. It was bound to happen at some point. I'm just glad you got the psychotic one and not me." Shuhei's only response was a chuckle.

OOO

"We have to leave soon?" Maaka said, leaning against the closed door while watching Amaji get changed. The redhead nodded and pulled on a shirt.

"Yeah, I received orders a few minutes ago. Aizen wants us back before the days over." She said with a little frown. Like Maaka, she was actually starting to enjoy the vacation. Her shorter friend crossed her arms and furrowed her brow in deep thought.

"We need to do something before we go… but what?" She thought for another moment before smiling. "I know, there's a summer festival tonight. Why don't we go to that then get home?" Amaji gave her a questioning look.

"How did you know that?"  
"I dunno. I just know." She said with a shrug and a smirk. "So? Can we go? Might be the perfect time to try making out with _Kira-kun_!" She made her voice go up a whole octave and batted her eyelashes at her friend, who was quickly turning a darker shade of red than her hair. About thirty seconds later, Maaka was back on her ass outside the room in front of Kira and Shuhei, laughing her ass off as the door slammed shut. "Some people can't take a joke." She said, shaking her head while being stared at by the two men.

* * *

Sorry about this chapter being so short, the way I divided them up would have made it ridiculously long, so I divied them up a little more.


	15. Chapter 16

The foursome made their way through the less busy streets, having taken a short time to pack their entirely new stock of necessities (or at least in Amaji's opinion they were) currently making way for another of Amaji's 'widely known' favorite clothing shops. Said girl was skipping ahead silently, humming a slow tune to herself to push back the lonely feeling swelling up within her chest, the other three figures behind keeping a small distance between each other as the tension was so thick it kept them apart. As Amaji kept bouncing around, she began to hop back and forth in order to keep anything unnecessary out of her mind, then suddenly her bright red locks spun around in a waving pattern as the ex-Shinigami whipped around on the balls of her feet and waved to the group a few feet away. She pointed ahead some bit, then having had shouting something inaudible at them, she spun back around and rushed ahead towards the shop she'd pointed out. Making a sharp left, her wispy hair vanishing into the shop behind her running form, and the rest of the group picked up their paces to catch up to the overly hyper girl. The blinding white lights and flashing colors within the shop caught everyone off guard.

"What the- hunh?" Shuhei was the first inside the shop and was taken aback by the overbearingly bright white lights, but when he opened up his tightly shut eyes, he caught sight of row after row of beautiful Yukata's and Kimono's. Amaji was just up ahead, he noticed while skimming over the pricey bright garments. She smiled dully, arms behind her back as she waved him forward and looked around herself. Maaka was next to peek open her eyes, and when she finally managed to focus on the shop she gaped openly at all the pretty clothing. Kira was last to notice, but he only made slight indication of surprise as he started looking around him at all the Kimono's and such.

"Are you going to gape the entire night and hold up traffic or what?" Amaji had suddenly found her way behind the two boys and was ushering them forwards, headed towards the back where the older men's Yukata's were held. Shuhei struggled against her shoves, but only managed to slip across the floor as he and Kira were herded forward between the many racks of vibrant garments. Shuhei, once realizing his shoes were no help, twisted away from Amaji's grip and nearly managed escape, but didn't. Period. Kira in turn tried to fall to the ground so that Amaji toppled over him and wouldn't manage to get up in time while he and Shuhei ran, but Amaji kicked him up hard, and he was continued to be pushed. Shuhei, glaring at the girl, yanked away until he was tripped and again forced to the back of the shop. She was determined, and they knew they couldn't win. When Shuhei reached for a rack to pull away, Kira clasped his shoulder to grab his attention before Hisagi could attempt another escape. The scarred male turned to Kira with a glare, and Kira, with a sigh, shook his head gesturing up at Amaji who was struggling to shove them along.

"She won't give up, so you might as well." Shuhei inhaled sharply and looked at him with a viscous glower.

"You'd say that because you like-" Kira whacked him over the head and calmly crossed his arms over his chest, fully accepting there was no escape. Shuhei growled, rubbing his head, and remembered suddenly who'd they'd left behind.

Maaka was left behind at the front of the store to sulk as Amaji finally managed to get the two older men to the back, exhausted from having to shove them about a hundred feet forward. When she finally released her grip the two fell backwards having been supported when pushed forward, and now lay in a heap as Amaji stalked forward to start the hunt for two Yukata that would suit the men. Kira managed to get to his feet, wobbling a bit.

"What are you doing? Are we here, for a reason?" Amaji turned back to stare at him coldly, and a shiver ran down the blonde's spine as she looked over his frame with a frown.

"I'm looking for a Yukata, duh. And yes, there is a reason, now you two pick out a _nice_ outfit, while I go find Maaka before she shred's something and I have to pay for that, too." She started away, headed towards the outer area of the shop where the smaller Shinigami had been left behind, but not before adding in a quick note. "And make sure it's nice, don't worry about any expenses. You're not ruining tonight, otherwise you won't live to see morning."

With that, she stormed away out of sight to leave the guys at it, not caring exactly what they picked as long as it made them more appealing to look at considering the awkward tension that's been going around. Pausing momentarily to put up her hair in a loose, messy bun, Amaji went to work looking around for Maaka.

She found the short woman looking through a rack of Kimono's suited for more children's ages the her own, but how old they were in reality was more then that of any normal age here, and thus it really didn't matter where Maaka looked. She was currently holding a dove white Kimono in her hands that was simplistic but had a light blue hemming and the largely dangling sleeves faded into a lovely grey-blue. Pattern was a mist-like water theme, like that of a flowing dream.

"That's pretty," She said, startling her friend. "But we're not here for us, we're here for them." She jerked her head in the general direction of the two men. Said men were rummaging around the store with exasperated looks. Maaka grinned and stood up, putting the Kimono back on the rack as she did.

"I see. Well, seeing as how Shuhei has the style of a rock, I should go help him huh?" Her face broke out in the usual evil grin at the prospect of torturing her male counterpart. Amaji shook her head and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"No, let him be. I don't want a repeat of last night in the dressing room." She said with raised eyebrows. Frowning, Maaka pulled out of her grip and slumped against the wall. The two of them waited for a little while until both men came out wearing different colored yukatas. Shuhei's was a smoky pale gray color, almost a light black. Simple, yet it looked elegant on the toned man. Kira had opted for a dove white yukata. Like Shuhei, he was a good mix of simple and elegant, though he looked a little paler than usual.

"Wow, you guys actually look decent." Maaka said, looking them over with a kinds of semi-perverted grin. She caught Shuhei's eye for a second and then they both turned away with a small cough, their faces a light shade of pink. Amaji gave her friend a questioning look before shrugging and pointing the boys back to the changing rooms.

"Alright, go change. We're buying these for you," She directed, nearly giving them a little push to help them on their way. "What the hell was that?" She turned on Maaka when the other two were gone. The short Shinigami turned her good eye up at her friend. Amaji was shocked to see that the orange and yellow orb was not sharp as it usually was. In fact, it was soft and the dangerous glare that seemed to always be present was not there.

"What are you… talking about?" She said in a soft voice, closing and opening her eye slowly. Her head was slightly tilted to the left in confusion. Amaji rolled her eyes and lightly thumped her on the head.

"Are you blind?" She scolded lightly. "You two barley looked at each other and nearly fell apart! Something's going on between you two." Maaka shrugged and ran slender fingers through her dark hair.

"I have no idea what you mean," She said with a little shrug as the men reappeared, yukata's in hand. "Let's just pay for their clothes and move on." She brushed past the other three and stepped outside to wait for them. She was mad. Mad at Shuhei, and mad at herself. When she looked at him, all that came to mind was their kiss the night before. She was mad at herself because every time she thought of their kiss, she was reminded that she shouldn't be any kind of involved with him. And she was mad at Hisagi because she wanted _more_ than just a kiss! And she knew he'd never do anything with her… stupid morals. The door opened just as she let out a loud, aggravated sigh. Amaji grabbed her friend's wrist and started to pull her away.

"Our turn!!" She said with a happy smile, pulling Maaka around so quick that the other girl had no time to react. In a matter of minutes, they had arrived at another shop, this one selling only kimonos. "Go look for something pretty." Amaji ordered, wandering off for the normal sized kimonos for all the normal sized people. With an arrogant sigh, Maaka wandered off to leaf through her own styles. She was on her knees, looking at a pattern when she felt a presence behind her. She felt a warm pulse of rieatsu and knew immediately who it was.

"What do you want Hisagi?" she semi-snapped, putting the kimono back only to grab another. That was a little hostile, Shuhei thought. But, not one to get mad over nothing, her just watched her leaf through kimonos. She barley even spoke to him, but would occasionally ask his opinion about a garment. She selected one and made off to the dressing room, without saying three words to Shuhei. Sighing softly to himself, the dark haired man went to go find Kira.

"That was like watching a train wreck you know?" His blonde friend informed him, while Amaji wandered off to try an armload of clothes on. "Hard to watch, but you just can't look away." Shuhei ignored him and just watched the area where the girls disappeared to. Kira sensed his need for silence and backed off, just sitting around silently like he usually did. Shuhei sighed and lightly thumped his head against the wall. She was stressing him out beyond belief. In reality, he wanted nothing more than to be closer to her, but ever turn had an obstacle. The soft 'click' of two doors opening made both men turn. Amaji came out first, clad in the palest pink kimono. It had a cherry blossom design in pink just a shade darker than the kimono itself. Maaka followed out in a light purple kimono with a feather design in dark blue. They both looked amazing, and that was without their hair and makeup. The two girls looked at each other and gave the other smiles and nods of approval.

"That's perfect!" Amaji said, lightly fingering the soft silk with one hand. Maaka smiled.

"Yours is really pretty, and that's saying a lot cause it's pink!" She said with a small chuckle. It was mutually decided that the kimonos would be purchased. Now all that was left was getting ready for the festival that was going to take place in a few short hours.


	16. Chapter 17

Oh holy shit! It's been far too long since I uploaded anything for this story! Gomen a million times *bows*

* * *

"Come on Amaji, you take fucking forever!" Maaka complained, pounding on the bathroom door. The redhead had been in there getting ready for the past twenty minutes. "How long does it take to twist your hair into a bun?"

"Maaka, shut the fuck up. You complain too much!" Came a slightly muffled reply. "I'm almost done, then you can make yourself presentable for Shuhei!" Her voice rose an octave teasingly. Maaka stifled a growl and sat down on Amaji's bed, facing the bathroom door.

"Shut up," She snapped, her cheeks turning a pale pink. "That's not why I want you to hurry. I have no idea what the hell I'm gonna do with this mess." She grabbed a fistful of purple hair and pulled harshly. Behind the door, the scientist chuckled.

"I guess I could help you. I don't know how I can tame that thing, but I can try." Another laugh and Maaka turned a slightly darker shade.

"Shut up I said!" She snarled, glaring at the door. "I guess I could just clip it back. Maybe stick a feather or two in there... This could work. If only my hair cooperated with me!"

"You have no idea how odd it is to hear you talk like a girl!" Amaji said with a laugh. The scientist was a little glad she was behind a door. Maaka could get scary when you insulted her femininity.

"Ah to hell with you," Maaka said, turning to a small mirror and looking at her hair. She guessed it wouldn't be too bad to actually look nice for once. She grabbed at a comb and started working on her hair.

OOO

"Ow! That hurts! Let go, you're going to rip out a handful!" Maaka yelled, moving away from Amaji. The redhead sighed and put the brush down.

"It's not my fault you have a rat's nest! I'm almost done, just come here!" The two were almost ready to go out, but they just had to tame Maaka's unruly hair. The two had managed to comb it and twist it into a clip, now they were just working on making it look good. Amaji made a few more adjustments and let out a sigh. "That's the best I can do for now. It looks good though." Maaka turned to stare at her friend. Amaji had her cherry colored hair twisted into a simple bun, but it looked off. Putting a finger to her lips, Maaka looked around the room for a second. A few sprigs of cherry twigs were sitting in a vase by the bed. The short woman smiled and made her way over, plucking the little twigs out of the water.

"Come here," She commanded. Lightly, she stuck the twigs in Amaji's hair, making them blend with the kimono. "There, now we can go." The preparation complete, the two stepped outside to meet the guys.

OOO

Amaji laughed when Shuhei turned away sharply upon seeing Maaka, knowing too well what the gesture implied. Maaka, unaware of his fleeting gaze, was messing with her hair in an attempt to keep the tamed hair in its tamed state. Amaji opened her mouth to state the obvious, but Maaka walked away fussing with her hair before the red-head could say anything. The smaller woman headed towards the stairs whilst muttering curses to herself, followed by a frustrated Amaji and the two men who seemed to have a bit more color in their cheeks then usual.

The four made an odd little group; Maaka, making her way down the stairs, while succeeding in keeping her hair in place, Shuhei fussing with his yukata, and every now and then Amaji poking fun at the tints of red on Kira's face. Everyone again in a better mood, they headed out the building and down the brightly lit streets that welcomed them to the festival just a few blocks away from where they were staying.

Upon entering the nightly fair about ten minutes later, Amaji was already wandering away, fascinated by simple human toys or shiny objects. Maaka was becoming irritable with her as she kept herding the taller woman back to the group, only to have her wander off again at the sight of something new.

"Dammit! Get back here!" Maaka snapped, finally losing her composure. She reached up and grabbed her friend's collar. The so-called-scientist let out a little yelp and flailed in the other's grip.

"Maaka-chan! Leggo!! This stuff is cool!" She cried, finally getting loose and nearly crashing into a group of attractive guys. Kira let out a quiet mutter and lightly rubbed at his left temple. They had been there for oh, about ten minutes, and the two were already causing a scene. What could you really expect from them though?

"I wanna try this fish-game-thingie out." Amaji had- once again- gotten distracted and wandered into a booth. Maaka sighed and trailed after her. "Uhm, how do you do it?" Maaka nearly fell over.

"You don't know? Haven't you ever done this before?" Amaji gave her a blank look. "Okay, it's easy. You take the paper fan, and you scoop it up from underneath and put it in the jar. Here, go try." She dug into her pocket and pulled out some dollar bills. The smile on Amaji's face was so childlike and happy, the short woman couldn't help but chuckle. She watched the redhead play with amusement, if Amaji ran out of money, she could always just pickpocket more.

"Oh damn!" It looked like she was going to have to resort to stealing a lot quicker than she thought. Suddenly, the amazing smell of fried teriyaki patties caught her attention. It had been ages since she ate festival food, so (in quite the hypocritical fashion) she wandered away from Amaji and sniffed out the closest food vendor. Thirty seconds after taking a bite of the yummy food, she became aware of a presence with her.

"Do you like following me around?" She half-snapped at a grinning Shuhei. He leaned against the wooden beam of the vendor's stand.

"It's better than watching Amaji fail at catching fish. This is a little more appealing" Laughing slightly, he brushed a loose strand of her hair out of her face. With a grimace, Maaka pulled away. She still wasn't used to this intimacy crap.

"Let's go see how Amaji's doing huh?" She quickly moved away from him and made her way back to her friend, shaking her head slowly. She really didn't want to have any kind of touchy-feely, romantic relationship with Shuhei. Whatever, she settled into the crowd and watched Amaji try to win a fish.


	17. Chapter 18

While she and Shuhei had been gone, a small crowd had formed around the intent woman, many cheering and laughing merrily as they watched her failing attempts at catching even one of the small fish.

"And this is why I used to work in a lab, the fish were already caught for me," Amaji piped, her fan breaking as a fish bounced off of the object and flying back into the water, the sudden spark of hope vanquishing with the fleeing fish she'd almost caught. Another fan added to the pile next to her, the red-head earned herself another from the vendor, who was now giving them to her for free for being such a dedicated customer, and smiled sweetly as she attempted another shot at catching the scaled beasts swimming tauntingly before her.

"We're the ones who were stuck catching them for her, weird woman." Shuhei frowned for a moment, having heard the comment made by the red-head, his arms crossed lazily as he made himself comfortable standing just behind Maaka. The small woman, too busy laughing at Amaji and her careless, pointless attempts, didn't notice the close proximity between them.

"Best us, and not her. They'd all have been frightened away and we wouldn't have had stocked fish for weeks." Glancing up, Maaka noticed a particular blonde staring blankly at her friend, his eyes shining with laughter as even he was amused by the show put on by the scientist.

"I think he's enjoying himself, honestly," Shuhei noted, following Maaka's gaze as he plopped his arms on top of Maaka's head, earning a threatening growl. "Otherwise he'd have made a run for it by now. You think there's any chance for them?"

"If one of them makes a Goddammed move, maybe." As if he'd heard her, Kira suddenly left his spot in the crowd and moved forward, once reaching Amaji he leaned down and purchased a fan, Amaji next to him beaming. He reached out over the water, and caught a fish easily, the vendor bagging the fish he'd just caught and handing him the mini-koi. Amaji cheered and giggled, Kira blushing, and patted the blonde on the back. Maaka smiled, but her jaw dropped with what happened next. Kira stood up while looking away, a small hint of a blush creeping up to his cheeks, and offered a hand to help Amaji up. She accepted the offered hand with a confused look, and stood up beside Kira.

"Here, you were trying so hard." Hand outstretched, bag and little fishie in hand, Kira offered the ex-Shinigami what she'd been pining over the last ten minutes. If he weren't embarrassed already, Amaji suddenly glomped her captive and the two tumbled to the ground, Amaji squealing and thanking the fallen man below her.

Shuhei's sudden breath on her neck sent Maaka jumping about a foot or so. "I think my question was just answered. Who'd have thought it'd be a fish that brought them together, or Kira-san even making the first move."

Maaka was just too speechless to answer. But in the back of her mind she was happy. The two of them were just adorable together. The scientist wandered around to Maaka, looking at her prize.

"It's so cute." She said absently. Kira crooked an eyebrow at her, but smiled. Maaka turned around and gave Shuhei a look.

"Wanna get more food?" She said pointedly, jerking her head a little in the other's direction. Thankfully, he wasn't too retarded and he got the hint.

"Sure, let's go." Ignoring her look, he lightly grabbed her hand and led her back to more food. Over fried octopus balls, they discussed the most recent subject.

"I can't believe Kira had the balls to make a move on Amaji," Maaka said with her mouth full. "I woulda thought she would make the first move." Shuhei watched her with amusement.

"Nah, if Kira wants something bad enough, he'll go after it."

"Do you two have nothing better to talk about?" An annoyed voice made both of them turn. Maaka grinned and flashed her orange eye up at Kira.

"Nope, not at all Doom-and-Gloom." She threw him a wink and stood up, stuffing the last of the food into her mouth. "The fireworks start soon you know." She said to both of the men. "You might wanna find Amaji... I hear the fireworks are romantic." She teased, tucking loose hair behind her ear. Damn, the one visible blue eye could be scary if Kira glared hard enough.

"I wouldn't know, maybe you and Shuhei could tell me." Maaka turned red and her jaw dropped as she sputtered for an answer. It really didn't help that Shuhei was cracking up behind her. The short woman just sputtered and tried to come up with an answer. In a huff, she stomped away, followed by a chortling Shuhei.

"It's not funny, Hisagi." She said, throwing him the usual glare that had less of an effect on him now. The smile dropped, however and Shuhei rolled his dark eyes.

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?" He molded his face into the same glare he was receiving. He even closed one of his eyes for effect. Thankfully, she slipped up and grinned at him. How could she not? He was such a goof. "Come on; let's go find seats to watch the fireworks." This time, he didn't touch her as they weaved their way through the crowd to find a decent spot to watch the fireworks that were about to start. Maaka led them to a small area among the sakura trees. The branches hung just low enough to shield them from view, but high enough so they could look up at the sky now changing from a faint pink color to pale indigo.

"What about Amaji and Kira?" She asked, trying and failing to see through the pink petals. "Ah, hell with it, they can find a good spot all on their own." The second she stopped speaking, a light shot up into the air, breaking apart with a loud 'crack'. The fireworks had begun.

OOO

Maaka watched in fascination at the light show in the sky. It had been years since she had seen fireworks, and she was entranced by them. Not so entranced that she didn't notice when Shuhei's hand came lightly down on top of hers. She let it go for the moment, but visibly squirmed when he dared to wrap his arm around her.

"No, please don't," Her voice came out soft as she shrugged his arm off her. He frowned at her but didn't try to press the matter. When she cast him a sideways look, she could see the… hurt on his face. "I-I'm sorry. I-I just don't like this…" She trailed off. Damn it! Why was this so hard? She knew how to talk to guys without sounding like a pathetic, stuttering, fool. But with him, she felt more venerable, and she hated it. Shuhei, being the blunt asshole he was, leaned in closer to her, squeezing her hand harder.

"Don't like what? This?" He connected their lips for a fraction of a second before Maaka forcibly threw herself backwards and nearly fell out of their canopy. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist before pulling her back into him. He held her roughly against his chest and ignored her struggling. "I hate you, you know that right?" He mumbled, nuzzling her neck gently, making her gasp.

"Then let go!" Her voice was almost hysterical as she tried to free herself. What was wrong with her? Shuhei was just another guy, so why was her heart pounding so hard it threatened to break ribs when he held her close? Why did she pray his heart was doing the same thing? Why was she just so damn nervous around him? Shuhei has managed to push her kimono's collar aside just enough so that his nose was resting on her shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was muffled.

"I hate you," He repeated, his warm breath dancing on her cool skin. "You terrify me. I'm afraid of just how much you can control me without doing or saying anything. I'm so scared of how much I want to make you happy, because I know I'll fail at it." His voice got softer, sadder and Maaka was speechless. "I hate you, but at the same time… I can't help but love you." Now she was floored, the 'L' word had been uttered. He couldn't love her, because she didn't love him. So, she just sat there, mouth open like an idiot, not saying a word.

"Uhmm…" Was all she could say. Why wouldn't words form in her mouth? Why couldn't he be like all the other guys? A self involved asshole, who were only interested in her cause she could take them in a fight. Shuhei straightened up and lifted her chin so she couldn't look away. Before she could stop him, he kissed her. At first it was soft, but then his lips parted and it got heavier. Against better judgment, Maaka opened her lips and let the kiss deepen. Her brain told her it was wrong, much like it did back at the time of their first kiss. But like back in the hotel, she ignored it. Absently, her hand reached up and hooked around his neck. She pulled herself closer to him, which ment she was now kneeling between his slightly parted legs. One of his hands rested in the small of her back and held her upright as their kissing began to get heavier and heavier. It was all so fast, and amazing and confusing that Maaka had to pull away. Panting heavily, she locked her eyes on his face, searching for a reason to bolt and never return. This idea of 'love' was so foreign to her that his utterance of the damn thing made her want to run far away. But at the same time... she liked the idea of someone being in love with her. She was not even close to the pretty type, not tat she minded, but still. When you have one eye and are covered with ridiculous ammounts of battle scars, no guy would find you attractive. Shuhei's hand touching her face broke her intense gaze.

"Are you okay, you spaced out on me." He actually sounded concerned about her.

"Oh, yeah..." She mumbled, not really focusing. "I'm just..." She couldn't finish her thought. The thought that pretained to this love thing. She didn't think she could love anyone really, and Shuhei was not even a little bit of an exception. It was too much. Too much too quickly, sensory overload. Her reflexes to run began to kick in. "Oh God I can't do this!" She threw herself backward, rolling quite ungracefully down the semi steep hill. She was on her feet and bolting away even before Shuhei had called her name once. But she ignored him and kept running until his shouts were drowned out by the sounds of the fireworks.


	18. Chapter 19

Amaji wound up walking beside Kira, holding a vast amount of stuffed animals, fish, and sweets. Blinded by the horde in her hands, Kira guided her way through the crowd to an open field with a few couples hanging around cuddling while watching the fireworks or making out, and Kira was quite happy the red-head could not see them. He scouted around for a moment, and found a less populated spot, with soft, lush green grass, and led Amaji to the comfortable patch while helping her lay out her mass of pointless objects down carefully.

"You wanted all of this why?" He mumbled quietly, surprised Amaji had caught the remark when she turned to him with a pout.

"I miss hanging out in the human world, it was always a favorite pass time. Anii-san loved coming with me during the festivals." Amaji ogled the rainbow of patterns bursting in flowery shapes in the sky, smiling and wishing t the stars she spotted behind the bright bursts. When a particularly purple fireworks exploded beautifully, she ginned sweetly.

"Brother?" The red-head turned to him, eyes questioning, until she realized that once again she had spoken without thinking. Looking away, taking the strawberry flavored lollipop back out of her mouth, she tried to think desperately of some convincing reply. Turning back, she smiled delightfully.

"Yup, back in the bareau Rin and I were like brother and sister. He loved sweets, and enjoyed festivities considering Mayuri never let us celebrate back when I was still around. He looked so much like me." Almost beginning a rant, Amaji caught herself and shut up, returning to watching the fireworks and finishing her lollipop.

"You said older brother," Amaji paused, casting Kira a side glance. She nearly sighed at her pathetic attempts to find something brilliant to say, it was all she used to do back in her company.

"Rin-kun always boasted he was older then me, that's all. I enjoyed seeing him happy so I never said anything." Another burst and both Shinigami looked up, the flowering sparks an array or oranges, yellows, and reds.

"You're not the type to allow that, and, why is your hair shimmering?" Amaji started, she gently bowed her head to stare at the silvery-red locks cascading in front of her. Damn, she needed to die it soon.

"They were always like that, you just never noticed." There was an awkward silence, and Amaji pulled a stuffed sheep into her lap to hold to hide some of the discomfort. Fireworks shot into the air, this time a star-patterned shape seemed to set the dark sky aflame, blues and greens. It was beautiful.

"I think I've noticed enough." Hugging the sheep tighter, Amaji was running out of excuses, and slowly she was realizing she had lost her touch. Away from the company she loved so much, her wits had been left behind, for she really didn't need them anymore.

"Appearantly not enough." Startled by an unusually loud explosion as multiple rainbows of fireworks set loose to the sky, Amaji hugged the stuffed animal to her and sighed, feeling slightly out of place. She wondered about Maaka and Shuhei, wondering how they were fairing.

"Enough." Looking over, the ex-shinigami noticed Kira staring intently at the sky, and turned to her with a minute smile that Amaji had never seen before. Her cheeks tinted a light pink as she stared, not daring to look away. She wouldn't, not when he was smiling. She watched him look way slowly, the smile disappearing almost instantaneously, and sighed. Whatever courage she had would be diminished this night, and trying not to think of the consequences, she opened her mouth.

"You knew my brother, Anii-san was someone you were very close to, he still talks about you actually," Kira again turned her way, his face paling slightly as Amaji turned her gaze to the fireworks finishing in a rainbow of vibrancy of patterns. "I've been dyeing my hair since we left, and I suppose that's made a difference."

She hitched her breath when Kira reached out to gently grasp her arm, something she'd never expected from him. "Someone I knew? Wait-"

"Yeah, I know. Surprise surprise." Amaji pulled away from the warm hold, and started gathering small amounts of prizes the blonde had won for her.

"Gin-taichou, he's- you're brother?" It sounded as if he refused to believe it, the Captain he'd cherished when Aizen and the others were still in the squads had had a sister, and that she'd never existed.

"I was in the twelfth, he was in the third. He was a Captain, I was the seventh seat, we hardly spoke during work hours, and rarely talked about each other. I have to go, Maaka just ran of God knows where." She took a step away, her face hardening as she gazed at the suddenly silent sky, knowing full well she'd probably just broken all ties with someone, one person other then Maaka, she'd grown to like in Los Noches. "You run, I'll chase. Go find Shuhei and we'll come back for you."

She raced off, tracking her shorter friend whose Reiatsu was fluctuating like a human roller coaster, and nearly suffocated when she found Maaka. Shaking her head, frowning painfully, she shuffled over to the ex-shinigami and sat close to her friend, embracing her.

"Same for you? Guess not everything works the way we want it, fate seems to dislike us very much."

"Oh no, fate sure as hell likes me," She said with a bitter little chuckle. "It's just that fate likes to show up when I don't want it to."Her Reiatsu pulsed, a mixture of white hot anger and sheer confusion. It was rare to see Maaka in this kind of state. "So what happened? Why'd you leave Izuru?"

"It's a very long story," The redhead said with a tiny sigh. Maaka had known her long enough to know that when Amaji didn't want to talk, there was nothing you could do to make her speak. "I think it's time we went home, what do you say?" Her friend shrugged and reached up to pull her hair out of its ponytail. Dark strands fell across her eyes and framed her small face.

"Might as well, I see no reason to stay," Her voice sounded hollow as she stood up. "Where are the two captives?" She really was out of it. Amaji shrugged.

"I dunno, but they should be around here somewhere. I told them we'd be back for them. We'd better go find them." Maaka nodded and started to quickly walk through the crowd of people, searching for someone not human. It didn't take her long to find the two of them, standing in the field and talking amongst themselves. The second she got near them, the pair stopped talking and just stared at her.

"Oh don't give me that look!" She snapped, giving them a dark glare. "It's time to go back now, so move!" Many waves of anger shook in her voice as she grabbed hold of Shuhei's sleeve. As if on cue, a garganta opened up, unseen by the human buzzing around them like pissed yellow jackets. Without offering any more words, the short woman forcibly threw the taller man into the hole. Before he could react, Kira too was grabbed and suffered the same fate as the man before him. Amaji stalked past her friend, her eyes more focused on the ground in front of her than her surroundings. Quietly, Maaka growled as she stepped into the portal. Everything had been just fine! Now it all seemed so unraveled. Fucking men. All that ever happened when she was around them was betrayal and sadness.

OOO

It had taken three hours to gather up all the items the women had collected on their week's journey. The second the women had stepped through the open gap in space, they had led the Shinigami back to their rooms and left them unattended but locked in safely. Amaji sighed once the last of the luggage had been dropped onto her white tiled floor, the dull, bland white rooms and halls all too familiar and boring her already. Next to the red-head, Maaka plopped down, silent and moody. Almost back to her normal self, if Amaji didn't know any better.

"I think I'm going to stop dying my hair," She commented quietly, sighing and lifting herself up. "Do you think silver would look okay again? I always hated having such bland hair."

Maaka cast her a sidelong glance, a small spark flitting through her one eye. "What's wrong with silver?"

"Nothing to you maybe, but I find it almost boring. As I said, I always hated having silver hair," She remarked, lifting a hand to grasp a few stray strands in front of her face, observing the now glossy looking red hair. It smelled of Sakura blossom, one of her favorite scents, she inhaled deeply trying to sooth her frayed nerved.

"You're such an idiot." Amaji scoffed and tossed a playful punch at Maaka's arm, knowing full well her friend's mood could go either way. She could recoil and lash out or lighten up and hit back, she could never tell when she risked trying to cheer up the smaller woman. Waiting, she watched as Maaka sighed heavily and fell back, ignoring the attempt altogether. Amaji tried a different tactic - in a way.

"You think, maybe there'd be a chance if we made up?" She started coiling the strands around her fingers, worrying she might have pushed the issue.

"You and Doom and Gloom? Hell if I know." Alright, she was in a bitchy mood. But then again, she normally was, so Amaji still couldn't tell her friend's true feelings.

"I didn't just mean me and Kira." She said flatly. An orange eye peeked out from under a tan arm as Maaka looked at her.

"You're batshit if you think me and him are making up," The arm fell and the eye disappeared. Amaji blinked in confusion before moving to straddle the thin woman. She grabbed her arms and moved them away from her face. "Do you mind?" Maaka snapped, trying to throw the heavier woman off of her to no avail. Amaji pinned the skinny arms to the bed.

"Now who's the idiot?" She said, using her weight to hold the wild woman down. "Ya like him don't you? So go make up with him." It was such a simple concept, yet Maaka didn't seem to grasp it. And she said Amaji was dumb. But then again that was the problem with all the eleventh squad Shinigami. No brains, no feelings, just battle running through their veins.

"I can't," Maaka's voice was soft, way too soft for her. She rolled her body upward, knocking the redhead off to the side. "I just can't." Amaji was shocked; she had never seen Maaka like this. Well, she had seen it once, when they first arrived in Hueco Mundo. She had mourned the land she was dragged away from in a similar manner. "But this isn't about me. You and Kira, what's gonna happen with you two?"

"Nothing until something happens between you and Shuhei. If you won't fight for him yourself, I think I need to intervene. Go wallow in your self pity while I think of something goof." Standing up she started for the door and threw one last comment over her shoulder. "About time you had something to fight for again." With that, she was out of the door and running quickly down the hall and headed for her brothers room.

Once through the maze of halls, and constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure a raving Maaka was chasing after her sorry ass, she entered the room and did a quick sweep to make sure her brother wasn't around. The thought of Gin figuring out what the hell she was doing scared her shitless, but it wouldn't matter. Worse comes to worse, she'd find a way out of it and some way to fix the problem, that's how twelfth squad members worked.

"Now, let's see," Playing with the screen, she located Shuhei's and Kira currently confing rooms, both were pacing wearily by the beds provided to them. Shifting the screen again, she located Maaka wandering through the brightly white corridors hunting down her own room. Grinning, the ex-Shinigami shifted the halls so that the woman was stuck within a maze she wouldn't' be able to escape without help. And with that, she twisted it so that the end of the tunnel led right to Shuhei. Snickering, she sat back and waited, prepared to do whatever necessary to have those two making up and making out.

"How she loved that her brother was an evil master mind, that meant the genes ran through the family."


	19. Chapter 20

"Oh goddamnit! This isn't happening!" Maaka felt the familiar reiatsu pulsing from behind the only door located in a fifty mile radius. "I am going to murder her for this!" Knowing there was nowhere else to go, Maaka pulled open the door. She hoped Amaji would take pity on her and change the hallways back. The second his door opened, Shuhei let out a cry of both anger and disgust.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" He snapped, moving as far as humanely possible from her.

"Shut up Hisagi!" She snapped, reverting back into calling him by his surname. "It's not my fucking fault I got stuck in here!" Of all places she had to be in here, with him of all people! Amaji was going to get fed to the Menos for this! This was treason! Letting out a cry of pure rage Maaka ripped open the door and tried to go down the hallway. She'd wander forever before she spent a day in a room with him. Funny how quickly things changed. Before she took one step out of the door, a hand clasped down on her wrist, painfully pulling her back.

"You don't get to leave until you tell me something!" The dark haired woman ripped her hand out of his grasp before turning to face him.

"Two seconds ago you wanted me out, now you won't let me leave. Make up your fucking mind Shinigami!" She hated how he could do this to her. One second she was totally infatuated, the next, immensely furious. She hated how he could just toy with her emotions like that, without even knowing he was doing it. Two hands grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from flailing about. She tried to avoid his glare but- and she hated to admit it- he was stronger than her.

"Do you love me?" Amaji gaped, popcorn falling out of her hands as she listened. By this time she had found some spare rations in her brother's room and was quite intent on the scene playing out before her.

She sat back, smiling but cringing at the same time, Maaka would have her ass on a golden platter - she was worth far more the silver - but in due time she'd also have a friend with something to occupy her other then picking on Amaji all of the time. She munched a few more pieces as she watched Maaka hesitate slightly, and as she anticipated the answer a familiar reiatsu suddenly popped up out of nowhere and she jumped as the door to the room opened.

"Ah, shit!" Shutting off the screen, she jumped out of the chair and as the door opened, and once her bother was in view, she threw the popcorn bag at him and he fumbled backwards in surprise as she leapt out of the room. No time to fix the halls, Maaka was screwed, and in the end, so was she. Headed for her own room, only to smack into wall.

"Oh fuck, I'm stuck in the fucking maze, and I have know idea where the hell I am... HELP!" She yelped, louder the normal, frustrated that she couldn't help herself in a situation _she'd _made.

OOO

Minutes ticked by as Maaka and Shuhei stood there in utter silence. He had asked her the question about five or six minutes ago, and Maaka couldn't give him an answer. Her outer appearance may have looked calm, but on the inside she was freaking out. Her brain was working triple overtime to try to answer the question.

"Well?" Shuhei's voice was soft as he looked down at her. "It's a simple 'yes' 'no' question." He was a fool if he thought it was just that easy.

"It's not," She said, her voice scratchy. "It's a much harder question to answer." She didn't love him. No, she _couldn't _love him. Her job kept her from loving him, but she didn't know what she really wanted. "I-I don't know."

It was a horrible thing to say, and she knew it. But she didn't have a proper answer for him. Whatever fight he may have had in him died as he released her.

"I see." He sounded so pathetic that it made Maaka mad. She pulled away and brought her hand up, smacking him solidly across the face.

"This is why I don't know! This is the exact reason! Sure on the surface you have a little fight in you but once you delve deeper what is there? I'll tell you, nothing but a glorified child! The Shuhei I may have liked would have fought for me, not begged for me! If I had any kind of interest for you it died the second that fire in your eyes went out! You had to fight for me, but it was just too damn hard wasn't it? If something seems impossible you go after it ten times harder! That's what I thought you were about, but I guess you'll just give up once something stops going your way. You're the worst kind of person," She felt that amazing feeling she once felt back in the seireitei, that feeling of a fight. If Shuhei was shocked by her words, he hid it well. He reached up and felt the red-hot welt forming on his face. "Ugh! You can't even defend yourself can you?"

"Shut up!" His voice stopped her mid-rant. She had never heard him yell like that before. "You act like you know me, but you don't! You think you have the right to judge me? What about you? Everything about you just screams of bitchiness. You expect everything to turn out the way you want, and when it doesn't all you do is blame it on something else. Nothing is ever your fault is it? Let me ask you something, when is the last time you actually felt something besides contempt for someone that isn't Amaji?" He would have kept going, but he was interrupted.

"When I was home," Her voice was so sad that his anger just fizzled away. "My captain... He... Oh forget it." Her voice turned dark as she once again headed to the door. But yet again, he stopped her from leaving. "Would you let me pass?" Now she sounded plain annoyed.

"You still haven't answered my question." It wasn't the real reason he stopped her though. When she talked about her past, he saw who she may have been before she was dragged to this world. That was the Maaka he had come to love, not the cold-hearted woman in front of him. He wanted to see who she really was.

"No, I don't."

OOO

Amaji withered away as she fell against the wall, lost, alone, and fretting over what was happening between her friend and the bastard she'd tried to force her with. She had returned a few moments to fix the halls for Maaka for when she decided to leave, which Amaji was hoping was no time soon originally, but had caught the two fighting tartly and decided it was over. She'd ruined any chance most likely, and it was her fault entirely. Sighing, she tossed a glance to the left and stared down the glowing halls, always so clean and white, untainted by any impure substance even as the people living within these walls walked over them.

"Maybe I should just go back to brother, better then hovering about on my own," She lifted herself lf up, prepared to go back to the fox's lair if possible, when she turned the sharp corner and crashed into someone. Hissing, she glared up at the figure in her way.

"Watch where you walk, Lady Amaji." Ulquiorra Schiffer, just the man she needed to see. If Kira hadn't been enough, he was all she wanted in an emo package.

"I suggest you do the same Espada. What the hell are you doing here anyway?" She knew he was out on business; the Quatro Espada was far too intelligent to find himself stuck within the maze she'd created. His brow arched delicately, but nothing else changed, not even his nonchalant monotone voice.

"Gin-sama has sent me to retrieve you. He has suggested that you - became lost." Amaji laughed dryly, glaring at the emospada.

"So you're as low as messenger and retrieval duty now. Fun job for someone of your rank," She thrust out her hands and grabbed his shoulder, whirling him around with an effort so that he led the way out of this mess. "Mush, batty, I ain't got all day. Imagine if they'd sent Grimmjow now, or even Nnoitora, I'd be gettin' hell from them."

Ulquiorra started, his pace slow as the shorter woman trudged behind him. "Gin-sama mentioned something almost like that. Which is why he sent me?"

"You're chatty today." She didn't receive a reply. Typical he's shut up after a comment like that. But the red-head wasn't about to complain. It took about ten to fifteen minutes, but Ulquiorra had completed his task and led her back to Gin's room, marked by the small silver fox she painted on his door a few weeks ago when she had been all too bored.

"I hate to say it, but thanks 'Spada." He stared at her before walking off, not offering a goodbye of any sort or any welcome either. As she grunted, ignoring his blatant annoyed attitude, she raised a clenched hand to knock on the door. Before she could do so, a head popped out as the door slammed open and the woman nearly shrieked in panic.

"Little Sis, I got lots to talk to you 'bout. Come in, hurry, I want to chat!" Perky as ever, he dragged her in, a wave of anxiety washing over the smaller Ichimaru.

"'Bout what? Can't be anything important."

OOO

"You're a horrible liar," Shuhei's voice broke the deep silence between the two yet again. Whatever distance was between them was closed in an instant. "See? You're blushing." His hand cupped her chin and he pulled her face upward. Oh God, he was going to kiss her again. And he did, a deep kiss like back under the fireworks. Maaka could practically _feel _the mental walls crumbling as he moved them back so he could sit on the bed. It was perfectly fine to despise him when she wasn't near him... but so intimately close... She tried to pull away but couldn't manage it. So she settled with disconnecting their lips, keeping their foreheads pressed together.

_'Fuck it_,' her mind said as she moved in to kiss him again. _'Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it.' _Fuck pretending, fuck denying that she didn't feel a thing for this Shinigami. Her hands moved into his hair, getting tangled in the messy locks. God this was a rush! It had been forever since a guy ran his hands up and down her waist. Been far too long since anyone untied her obi, letting her top flow open. Her hands mimicked his movements, until the two of them sat, half-naked on the small bed.

"You know Amaji or Gin could be watching us." She said, running her hands over scarred muscle. He wasn't as willing to explore the tan flesh that he had uncovered, but he chuckled before moving in to kiss her again, his hands hooking in the back of her pants.

"Let the perverts watch."

OOO

Amaji watched the screen, glaring at her brother here and there as he grinned devilishly as he always had and forever will. She reached out and pressed the one button that would erase all of this data, but she didn't know what cost it would come at to press it. He was apparently willing to tell her.

"Ah ah, sissy. Now, Aizen-sama asked me what you four were up to, getting a bit personal, ne?" He chuckled, leaning back in his chair and letting his slender fingers rake across the keyboard of the machine. Amaji sighed and let her hand slip away from the button, not wishing to interfere with whatever plans her brother or Aizen had, in fear that it would affect them indirectly.

"We're up to nothing. It's not our choice who we fall in love with, you should know that of course," She retorted, turning so that she was facing the fox with a grin of her own - almost a complete mirror image of her brothers. "It hurts, don't it? What's that bastard want and what' do I gotta do to please him?

Gin chuckled again and opened his arms to offer his little sibling a comforting embrace. "Now, what makes you thin he wants anything? We're all jus' pawns here, if any of us were to die would he notice? I'd be a setback, but it wouldn't matter, so what's lil' affair gonna do?"

Amaji stepped back, avoiding her brothers 'endearing' words. "You said so yourself Aizen wanted to know."

"He did, he does, and he always has – and always will. Don't matter. Why don't you go visit Kira-kun? The poor mans lonely, ne? You wouln't want little Maaka to have all the fun?" He was playing with her head, tossing around questions and statements to her to beat around the bush. It was strange how he always gave her puzzles, but the puzzles always meant the information was vital. Gin may be loyal to his Lord, the fucked up God-in-the-making Sosuke Aizen, but he was still a brother that loved his sister. Amaji finally accepted the hug.

"Go on then, I won't tell no one 'bout this. Jus' stay safe now." Amaji ran out the door, hoping to find something to occupy her time. Aizen knew everything? Didn't he know anything about personal space and whatnot? Oh well, she didn't care, but it she finally made it to her own, lonely room. It was far better then hanging around with her maniacal brother. That was a fact, she honestly didn't know how Kira could have ever put up with him 24/7.


	20. Chapter 21

For the first time since she came to Hueco Mundo, Maaka actually slept peacefully. It was nice, curled up next to someone warm, someone who wasn't a hollow. Shuhei was still asleep, breathing lightly with a peaceful look on his face. It was the calmest Maaka had ever seen him since he had arrived. She smiled and ran a small hand through his slightly sweaty hair before rolling softly off of the bed. She slipped into her clothes and pulled the door to his room open, thankful that the hallway had been restored. She wandered down the white halls for a while, lost in thought. Eventually she got tired of the blaring white hallways and decided to seek a better place to muse. Of course, there were no doors, so she had to squeeze her skinny ass out of a thin window. She landed in the soft sand with a muffled thud and stood up, dusting herself off.

"We need a fucking door," She griped, craning her neck to look up at the massive dome that was Las Noches. "Actually fuck that, we need a fucking elevator." She sighed and concentrated all of the energy she had left into getting to the top of the dome. It took about sixty shunpo and thirty minutes before she reached her destination, out of breath and sweating. Frowning, she undid the top of her shihakusho, letting it fall around her waist. It was much better out here in the endless night world, a lot calmer than inside where all the crazy Espada were. Sighing, she flopped down on the hard stone roof, tucking her arms behind her head and stared up at the permanent crescent moon. A cool breeze blew through her hair and she closed her eyes. She had lost track of how long they had been in Hueco Mundo, and quite frankly she was getting tired of it. She missed sunlight, and she missed her comrades in the eleventh squad. Of course, in her mind she knew she'd never really be accepted back into the Soul Society; they didn't take kindly to desertion. But… soon Kira and Shuhei would be headed back to their own world. Even Aizen knew that they couldn't be kept there forever. They weren't like his vice captain; they wouldn't follow their captains no matter what. Maaka wanted nothing more than to go with them, but she knew her half-brother would never let her leave. Once he got his claws into you, he never let go. She sighed sitting up and wiping just under her eye, cursing slightly at her own weaknesses. She hated it, but she could never return to her old life.

OOO

Amaji twitched and fell off of the couch she was dozing on, waking up without a feeling of dread or dismay for once. She gently rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stood up, remembering she had a prisoner to feed after having come back from their little vacation to the world of the living. She reached out and grabbed the teddy bear Kira had won her, hugging it to her breasts as she groggily found a pair of clean clothing and shoved them on for the hopes of feeling slightly presentable when entering the chambers to the captives. Soon the young genius was out the door and had manage to grab a platter of decent food, stalking her way towards Kira's room and assuming that Maaka had fed Shuhei already.

The younger Ichimaru knocked on the door before remembering it was she who had control over what went on, and opened the door without having heard any noises of acceptance into his room. "Food's here, hope you like… chicken?"

"Not that hungry," Came the vacant reply of the ever-depressed vice-captain. Amaji wouldn't let his mood influence her own as she set the platter of sustenance on the small table across the bed provided to the man and sauntered over to the emo curled up in the corner.

"Better eat while food is being provided to you, remember what happened to Shuhei? It's not bad, I promise." He refused to even look in her direction as she shrunk into the corner of the wall, pointedly avoiding her. She hissed in annoyance, unable to solve his complex emotional roller coaster ride. Shrugging, she walked back over to grab the plate and returned to his side, jumping on the bed and sinking into the cushions, deciding which of his food to steal and consume for herself.

"It's disgusting." She tossed a bit of meat of him, not able to decipher what the meat had actually come from while nibbling a little bit on a piece she had ripped of for her own consumption,

"Like I said, it's really not that bad. You know, if you're so depressed mister emo pants, I can go get my brother and set up a little you and him time to cheer you up." His blank gaze finally locked with hers as she stared back, tearing into something she didn't want to know what it was.

"I've had enough of him from you." His had was then bashed with a spoon.

"Dammit, what the hell is your problem? All I've done is try to please your sad little ass, and you turn around and treat me like shit? Why? I'm trying, damn it all, I really am!" His eyelids lowered a bit and he was glaring at her.

"Then why am I still here?" She growled and ran a hand through her glimmering red-silver hair.

"Because I have no control over what happens to either of you, besides being your damn watch dog making sure you're safe, fed, and occupied. You want to take it up with Aizen, be my guest," She stood up while shoving the plate into his lap. "Get yourself another dammed guardian if you hate me so much."

She was about to exit the room, having accomplished her goal, when a spoon was thrown at her head. She turned around, ready to snap, when she noticed the Kira was finally on his feet, the food having been set down on the bed.

"I have never said such a thing." She laughed without humor, the chuckle dry and unnerving.

"Oh, you've most certainly implied it." She started for the door again, almost to the door, when the shuffling of robes caught her ears and an arm wrapped tightly around her wrist. Trying to yank away and flee from the man, knowing she should be forcing him down and showing some form of dominance, her body was pressed harshly against the wall.

"I've implied nothing, my reactions are my nature. Just hear me out, I have a few questions for you."


	21. Chapter 22

With a sigh, Maaka re-entered through the same window she had climbed out of, shaking the slightest bits of sand out of her long hair. Her issue had been solved, but now it was Amaji's turn. Of course, she knew her friend was going to be stubborn over it. Well, if it wasn't Amaji, it was most definitely Kira who would put up a fight. Damn shy bastards! And the worst part was that she couldn't help them either. Slowly, she made her way back to Shuhei's room as orders buzzed into her little earpiece. Like always, she ignored Gin, mostly because he was ordering her to bring him food, and shut the transmitter off. As she pulled open Shuhei's door, she saw him fully clothed now and standing by the window, looking out on the dark world.

"You know, it's actually kinda peaceful out there," He said without turning around. "I guess I could live here." He leaned against the windowsill.

"Well don't get too used to it, you'll be headed home soon enough." She wanted to get closer, but instead she leaned against the door, crossing her arms. "Although I don't know when you're being forced home." Now he turned to face her.

"Forced huh? What if I was thinking about staying?" He put his arms behind his head and grinned at her as she sighed.

"I'm betting you'd be forced into that gate one way or another," She shrugged softly, hating the tension that was beginning to build in the room. "Staying is not an option." In truth, she didn't know about that. But she did know that he only wanted to stay because of her. Five days ago, he would have jumped at the chance to be free, but now he wanted to stay. She didn't want him to stay here when he had a home elsewhere. Of course, she knew he'd try to get her to come with, oblivious to the realization that she could never go back to the Soul Society.

"Leaving isn't exactly an option either." He mumbled, his obsidian colored eyes growing dark as he thought. She sighed and finally crossed the room, leaning against him as she stared out at the vast landscape that was Hueco Mundo.

"You're going to have to leave you know," She said as he wrapped his arms around her thin shoulders. "This isn't worth me." She gestured to the cold world just outside the barred windows. She wasn't worth a life stuck in servitude. He pulled her closer to him slightly, not offering any words. She knew he was thinking differently, but she knew the truth.

"I don't think I can take a dual-world separation. Just come with me."

"You know I can't. I can't leave and you can't stay. What are we going to do?" She wished she knew the answer to that question.

OOO

Amaji sighed, waiting patiently for him to ask these 'questions' he wanted answers to. "I can't promise you there are going to be answers."

"As long as I get a few I'll be satisfied." He wouldn't move, and Amaji was starting to feel slightly confined stuck between him and a hard place – literally. She shifted so that her chest was pressed further into the wall, farther from Kira's hovering form and comforting body warmth. She waited again; growing aggravated and her patience wearing thin.

"I suggest you start interrogating before I just up and leave." Turning, she started at the pale hands placed firmly against the wall, bored with the white surface she was facing.

"Your hair is silver, why do you dye it red?" Of course he'd start with her hair, but it was the simplest to answer thankfully. She let out a quiet breath, not a sigh, but just something to do that would calm her frayed nerves.

"I'm a scientist, and you may have noticed I'm obsessed with the world of the living," Kira nodded, for she felt the brush of his bangs against the nape of her neck where a sliver of skin was showing through her layers of thick hair. "Humans dye their hair, I did the same, and I enjoyed having red hair, simple as that."

"You say you're brother doesn't talk about you much, Gin taicho, why not?" This question was slightly more complicated to answer. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, trying to form a sentence that would sound remotely understandable. He was patient as she put things together, time had no place here and he could wait as long as he needed, he wasn't going anywhere for a while.

"It's complicated. Gin, my brother, he really does love me. At least I keep telling myself that. Aizen warped his already fucked up thought process when he was young, which left little room for me to dissuade from the path he's chosen. But he's protected me, in a sense, for as long as I can remember. Without associating himself with anyone really, it gave no to for Aizen-sama to grow an interest in his relatives, namely me." It hurt to talk about it, she really didn't know how much her brother loved, liked, or hated her. "Without anyone knowing we were siblings I was my own person, and in all reality I think it worked out to my benefit that way."

"He hasn't betrayed your trust, so he must care for you." She caught the hurt in his voice, and it pained her. Gin had betrayed many, many people, and she hadn't given a damn about those she'd left behind. But Kira had truly devoted himself to his captain, she knew this, and the fact that it had created such an emotional distress towards the fukutaicho pained her in a way.

"As I said, I keep telling myself that. I don't know what to believe anymore, but I still love him. After all, he's still my brother." Her body went rigid as Kira's head gently rested against her back, and she watched his hands strain against the wall as if he were trying to ball them into fists.

"Does it hurt you to think that he might betray you at any point, without hesitation? Shatter every bit of love you might have for him?" His voice was low, not a whisper but a sorrowful, dejected question. Amaji chuckled to herself, a laugh without humor, and lifted her arm to place her hand on top of Kira's.

"You're too depressed, and you really do have a sad way of looking at things. I suppose that comes from being in the third squad," It was easy to work out the complicated structures of his mind, and she hated how easily it was to pick out his reactions and questions before he actually reacted or said something. "But yes, it does. It hurts to know that m brother, the only blood I have, might never have truly looked at me the way I did him. We share a single thing, and that is our IQ levels. But his brilliance surpasses mine in ways I can't fathom, thus I don't know what he thinks or what he feels towards me."

A heavy sigh came from behind her, and she felt his chest press against her back for a moment. "Then why did you come here?"

Amaji didn't have to think about that one.

"Because Gin was the only thing I had in the society. Without him, there would no longer be me. I, unlike Maaka, left willingly."

"Would you come back?" She was slowly becoming depressed, and he just kept getting lower and lower as he talked, sorrow dripping from his words. Amaji shook her head and leaned back, forcing Kira to release her from his hold and she stepped towards the door, her hand still on his.

"For what? My brother his here."

"For me?" His hand dropped to his side as she let it go, and there was no time for her to think of an answer. If she did that, she'd regret whatever answer she gave. Her mind worked too quickly and she often spoke before she could register what she had said or thought.

"I think I've answered enough, I'll bring you dinner later. Finish whatever you have left, if there is anything left." She exited the room, refusing to look at him, and stood just outside the open door for a moment. "I'll see you later, Izuru-san."

And she closed the automatically locking door, leaving to find her room.


	22. Chapter 23

"So I hate you." Maaka said upon entering Amaji's room. She sat in the middle of the floor and stared at the redhead lying on the white bed.

"That's nice." Her friend's voice sounded dull as she peeked a crimson eye at the short woman. "At least you had some fun right? Will there be any Hisagi babies running around then?" Man if looks could kill… She'd be ashes right now.

"That's not even the slightest bit funny," Maaka said with a sigh, spinning around and lying on the plush white carpet. "I think I'd take a swan dive off of Las Noches if that happened."

"Seems a little harsh don'tcha think?" Amaji laughed at Maaka's dramatic tone of voice.

"Hey, I'd make a shitty mom. And this place… not exactly the best place to raise a kid," She looked up at her friend with her one eye. "Besides, I don't think a father living in another world would be very good." Amaji shrugged before sitting up on her bed.

"I guess so. But we're getting away from the main focus here. You finally told the dumb oaf how you feel." It wasn't a question, so Maaka figured that Amaji had to have been at least listening to their entire conversation. "How'd that go… besides the whole 'potential to make Hisagi babies'? Eep!" A shoe came flying from the floor, smacking the scientist in the face. From the ground, Maaka fumed and took aim with her other sandal.

"You know how it went, you were watching the whole thing! That's the whole damn reason you locked me in that fucking room to begin with!" She said her voice not exactly angry. Rubbing her nose where the sandal had connected with flesh, Amaji shrugged once more.

"I meant how did you feel about it? You know you're not all that open with people."

"I'll tell you if you tell me what went on with you and Doom and Gloom. You two have been bouncing around the uncomfortable subject of betrayal and desertion since he found out you were Gin's little sister."

"No point in beating around in the bush: in all honesty, no hope in hell am I ever going to like him beyond the point that he is… maybe a friend." She shrugged, feeling nothing towards the confession. "Now it's your turn, well?"

"Never promised I'd tell." Maaka grinned, finally perking up a tad bit, and found her way to Amaji's bed and collapsing on the soft, white furniture. Amaji rolled her eyes, lying down beside the short woman and wrapping her hands around a pillow, hugging into it.

"I suppose not, thankfully I had already assumed you weren't going to tell me. So I decided I'd ask Shuhei about it later-." The second shoe smacked into her face and she whined, ducking away and hiding her face into the pillow. It was comfortable, and she didn't want to face the wrath of Maaka anymore, so she kept to herself and waited patiently to see which came first: sleep of the grating voice of Maaka.

"You watched everything, you should know how I feel," Amaji sighed, wishing it had been sleep that grasped her first. She peeked through the pillow over at Maaka with her crimson eyes, wondering Maaka truly thought of her.

"I know you had sex, but I didn't actually watch you fuck, I let you be once you jumped each other. Unlike my brother I am not one for prying into others lives, not a friend anyway." She turned onto her side, back to Maaka. She wasn't upset or angry, just concerned as to what Maaka expected from her. She was the least of her concerns right now while juggling Kira and his little emotional roller coaster and the collapsing world around them.

"So, no emo babies?" The pillow landed on Maaka's face with a heavy thud, Amaji fuming.

"No, none at all! You little-!" She turned and pounced the shorter woman, smiling as they wrestled for a few moments before breaking apart for much needed air. Pillow fluff was drifting through the air to the ground like large clumps of snow flakes, and two pairs of shoes were tossed in random directions of the room. As things settled, Amaji grabbed Maaka and pulled her close into a tight embrace, the woman the only friend she had besides her brother, whose loyalty she questioned.

"What are we going to do?" Maaka sounded tired, and deep in thought, an odd combination for the usually boisterous and thoughtless Shinigami.

"We'll get them out of here, or at least Shuhei. I promise you that, and if I can manage, I'll sneak you out with him," Amaji paused to consider the options and Maaka's welfare during her little banter. "My life is worth your freedom, if it means you'll be safe and happy with that galumphing oaf. If you ever start arguing with me about this, I'll go straight to that perverted ass and castrate him without hesitation, then some if I can think of any more useful threats."

Not quick witted, but sometimes it came in handy to over-think things. Maaka didn't argue, but Amaji knew silently that Maaka would refuse to allow any such thing to happen. Oh well, best work things out when she could actually think straight, after today's events she still had to go feed the tormented being that annoyed the living hell out of her.

OOO

Maaka opened the door, holding the platter of mush no one dared call food in her hand. Amaji followed behind her friend, wielding a plate of her own, and closed the door behind them smiling when the door clicked. It was locked, and there was little chance of escape. Amaji sat by the door, mainly minding her own business, and watched as Maaka offered the 'food' to Shuhei. He accepted the food and ate silently on the bed with Maaka beside him. Once he finished his meal, Maaka took the mostly empty plate and shuffled over to Amaji, pecking Shuhei goodbye.

"You want to stay with him?" Amaji asked quietly, looking up to see Shuhei staring silently out into the vast desert of Las Noches. She hesitated, staring back at him, but turned around and finally shrugged.

"Nah, I'm not feeling the best so I better not stick around." She started for the door when Amaji laughed and patted the smaller woman's head.

"Afraid he'd fuck you while you slept? I wouldn't put it past the horny bastard." A smack to the head and she was chuckling even more as she exited the room, Maaka just behind as she closed the door behind them and locked it. They made their way next door to deliver Kira's food when Maaka fumbled a bit. Amaji paused, worried a bit, when Maaka stood and waved off the offered hand. They made their way into Kira's room and the blond jumped when he saw Maaka, but settled himself and returned to just sitting in his corner staring at nothing.

"You better eat, you're looking thin," At least Maaka was slightly concerned for the captive as she made her way for the chair to the writing desk and sat down on the hard white furniture.

"Here." Amaji offered him the plate and he actually took the thing this time, nibbling on a few scraps before returning the plate nearly untouched. She had to admit the food wasn't the best, but he still had to eat more to finish his fill. She handed back the plate and stood there, waiting for him to chow down on the rest. He neglected to take the food and Amaji's smile swept away into a frown.

"I said; here." He stared at her, looking lost in thought, and Amaji sighed. She turned to Maaka, and jumped when she found the shorter Shinigami coughing lightly, her body shaking. She accidentally dropped the plate, then ignored the food and rushed for Maaka. As she started fussing over the woman, she was shoved away and Maaka grumbled at her.

"I'm fine."

"You are not, let's go missy." Amaji grasped the smaller woman in her arms and hugged her close, starting to carry her out of the room. She struggled and landed a blow to Amaji's leg, but it didn't faze the scientist.

"What about Kira? He needs to eat! Lemme go!" Amaji ignored her and turned to open the door, looking back at Kira who was simply staring at them. She huffed, managing to kick open the white object, and fumbled through with the struggling ex-Shinigami in hand.

"I'll bring you food later, and you'll eat it if I have to make you." With that she was out the door and dragging her friend to Szayel's lab, preparing to run test after test on her increasingly ill friend.

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Muhahahahaha! Hello :D This is Anna, Chief writer ^_^ I do apologize for all the late updates, but I like to procrastinate and make Sara work more. It's way too much fun XD ...That's really all I have to say D: So... till next time! Sarang Hae my loves!


	23. Chapter 24

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Hello! I apologize for taking this chapter down, but it needed fixing. Well, this is the revision, so enjoy

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"I told you I was fine, I'm just sick," Maaka snapped, leaving the octava's lab with a scowl. Amaji followed, a less than enthusiastic look on her face. "When you sleep naked, you get sick. It doesn't take a genius to figure that the hell out!" Amaji sighed and put both her index fingers in her ears.

"Jeez, you don't have to be so loud." She said, exaggerating the noise prevention. "I said I was sorry." The shorter woman sighed before coughing slightly, her little body shaking.

"You should have listened to me." She said, rolling her bright orange eye. "That needle you oh-so graciously jammed into my spine felt real good thanks." So that's why she was pissed. Yeah, Amaji knew a lumbar puncture wasn't a fun thing, but she had deemed it necessary. Moving quickly, she slipped her hand under Maaka's top, lightly prodding the iodine yellowed flesh. The shorter woman let out a hiss of pain, but stayed still, allowing the scientist to move her slim fingers in tiny circles.

"How's that feel? Is it just a sharp pain or is it sore?"

"It just _hurts _you dumb bitch!" Maaka snapped, not meaning the words. "My entire back just hurts when I move. Maybe it's because you sucked out half the fluid in my spine!" She was still pissed about that. Amaji drew her hands down, letting them rest on Maaka's hips. The raven hissed again, jumping out of the redhead's reach. "Stop. Touching. Me." She raised her hands in defense,

"Fine, I'm just trying to help you."

"I don't need your help. I need sleep," She began to walk down the hallway, Amaji trailing after her. "I think all those tests… they made me exhausted." Suddenly, she stopped moving, her small body swaying lightly on the spot. Amaji caught the motion and bolted forward, catching her friend before she hit the ground. She would have been worried, but the shorter woman just shifted in her arms. The little bitch was asleep! Amaji had to admit, falling asleep while walking was an impressive feat. The redhead sighed, debating what to do with the annoying girl.

Deciding it was best to let her rest, she lifted the scrawny woman into her arms and carried her carefully down the white halls, the delicate load twitching here and there. She located Shuhei's room and entered quietly, finding the male sitting in the middle of his room and staring out into the vast world of Hueco Mundo. He jumped as she brushed past, placing Maaka delicately on his bed towards the wall.

"What are you doing? And is she all right?" He looked at the sleeping form with an odd look, and she swatted away his probing hands. She may have slept with him, might love him, but he still had no reason to go groping a sleeping woman unless he was declared her official lover by Maaka herself. He pulled back and sat in his chair, casting looks between Amaji and Maaka.

"I'm hoping that, even though we have no reason to trust you, you will watch over her while she sleeps and tend to her if she says she is in pain. I don't know if she's alright, the tests haven't come back, but your comfort may be better than mine." She stared blankly at Maaka before stepping away and headed for the door. Shuhei, he was a captive with every reason to harm and possibly kill the defenseless form keeping him trapped in this dismal world of night and white sand, yet he tenderly cared for the bitter and boisterous woman.

"Do you trust me or not?" He sounded guarded, and she couldn't blame him. What she was doing might be wrong, but it was best for her friend.

"I left her in your care, did I not? Can I ask you something, Shinigami?" He looked taken aback as she turned to him with nothing but a blank expression.

"Yeah, sure." She sighed, and looked out into the night, a place she had come to admire and seek the comfort of.

"Do you love her?" She held up her hands to silence him before he could answer. "Choose your words wisely, Hisagi. Remember, I have permission to kill you and the man next door if I truly wished to end your life. This woman means more to me then you know, and that includes her happiness. I need to know now how much you're willing to give up for Maaka."

He sat silently, slightly bewildered at the question and statements, but finally thought everything over quietly before replying. "I haven't fought, struggled, complained much or asked permission to leave." He looked up at her, completely serious. "I've given up my freedom for her. I love her, I truly do. And, if it came down to it, if she says she loves me back, I'd give her anything and give up everything."

It was less then satisfying to hear, but she accepted it for that was all he really needed to say. She nodded, and turned slowly, walking out of the room and wandering pointlessly down random hallways putting together everything that had happened since the arrival of the two vice-captains. She didn't fully accept Shuhei, or the fact that he and Maaka might be more then just captive and captor. But if it was her friend's choice, she wouldn't speak her mind. He was everything she needed, she assumed, for Maaka hadn't really ever spoken of any love's before him, which meant this might be something bigger then she could comprehend. Unable to wrap her head around it, she sighed and made her way back to the lab to pick up the results of the tests.

"Shuhei, Hisagi Shuhei. Hisagi Maaka. Ew," It didn't role smoothly off the tongue, but what could she do? Once in the lab, she located the white sheets with inked lettering and jumped when she found her brother hovering near the table where the stacks were placed.

"Ni, little sis, Aizen-sama wishes to speak with ya. Better look nice, he doesn't often ask for an audience besides mine and Tosen's, eh? That or someone who has been a bad girl," He teased, eyeing the stacks through the slits of his eyelids. She shivered, it was rare that she spoke to the devil himself, usually it only involved tests and experiments she had done with Szayel, the other scientist in this confined building. She was someone who she could tolerate, with high intelligence and complicated train of thought.

"Well, I don't see why I shouldn't go see him. Please leave my stuff alone while I'm gone, yeah? I'd rather you din't go through it, it's private." Her accent always caught up to her when he was around, and it was rather annoying. Locating her way out of the lab, she swiftly found her way to Aizen's room, regretting having ever stepped out of Shuhei's room. Inhaling deeply, she knocked on the large doors, and hoped for the best.

"Enter," Amaji shivered, then stood erect, erasing anything remotely emotional on her face. He may be creepy, but she wouldn't be afraid of him. Opening the door and sliding it quietly shut once through, she entered the large bedroom and observed how little furniture it held. Completely white, it was rather dull, just as it had been the past few times she had been in it. She located Aizen sitting beside a window, head on his palm, and staring out into the world surrounding his dome. She sighed and stepped before him, bowing deeply.  
"You have summoned me, Aizen-sama?" He sat back in his chair and laced his hands together in his lap, offering her a smile.  
"Yes, you have come much quicker then I anticipated, please, sit down on the bed." He escorted her over, and she really had no idea what to expect. The man may smile, be gentle, use coaxing and warm words, but she knew the cruel man beneath the facade, the monster he was.  
"I have a few questions concerning Hisagi-san and Kira-san, would you be willing to give me some answers, Ichimaru-san?" She nodded, standing before him in front to the bed, refusing to allow herself that close. She knew of the things he did to her brother, his own men, and did not want to be wrapped up in any such activities.  
"Of course, Aizen-sama, anything to appease you." His eyes closed as he smiled warmly, enticing Amaji to drop her defenses.  
"I wish to ask, is the experiment following through? Would they still follow the men who were once their Captains? I do hope it is a yes, that would be most delightful. Or perhaps, not yet, but there is progress?" Amaji stared at him, wishing she could just flee the room and leap into her brothers arms for comfort. But there was no hope of such a thing happening, she was forced to stay here until he was content, no matter how long that would take.  
"I'm sorry to disappoint you Aizen-sama, but there has been lack of progress. The two captives show little interest in continuing their last relationships with their captains, whatever trust they may show to any of us, it would not be towards Gin-sama or Tosen-sama. When we left, everything was lost besides faint memories and strong wishes, possibly even denial towards your leaving the Soul Society. There is little chance they would be of any use in your plans, my Lord." She bowed deeply, knowing she was telling the truth setting her a little more bit at ease. He seemed to think it over, but she knew he had already come to his own conclusions, she was no fool.  
"I see, and what, may I ask, would you plan to do with them if they are little more then mouths to feed? We could not possibly let them go, everything we have worked for could be jeopardized." Amaji offered him a grin like her brothers, hiding her eyes as she quickly tried to answer him.  
"Why not let us play with them? They seem to enjoy our company, why, I even think Hisagi-san may be more then willing to stay on Maaka's behalf. It seems, even though they will not listen to you, we have them wrapped around our little fingers. I couldn't fathom destroying our little pets yet." Aizen's eyes flashed as her smile sank away back into an expressionless thin line, and she suddenly felt her gut knot.  
"Playing with captives, a tad bit cruel wouldn't you say? Is that why you still communicate with the soul society? I understand that recently you have been trying to create something that would form a quick route back to their home. Amaji-san, should it be of any interest to me?" Shit, shit shit shit. He knew? Fuck, that was supposed to be for letting them go if she had gotten it working properly, for them to escape home with Maaka. Why was she surprised that he knew? Thinking as rapidly as her mind would allow, she tried to give a decent answer.  
"It's a ploy, Lord Aizen. Let them see home, smell it, touch it, but take it away once they think they're free. Show them they are here with us to stay as permanent guests, my Lord, perhaps become complete pawns." It was bullshit, and she knew it, but her voice didn't waver and thankfully she sounded defiant. It was hard, and she would crumple later into a shivering, pitiful ball, and it was obvious he wouldn't fall for the lie, but he let it pass for now.  
"Such sick games you play, Miss Ichimaru, you are growing to be more and more like your brilliant and beautiful older brother." He reached out to toy with a few strands of her silvery-red hair, rubbing it between his fingers delicately. "You have my permission to leave, and please, your hair is much prettier when it is silver. Just like your brothers."

Once he let go she slowly shuffled for the door, closed it quietly behind her once through, and then collapsed to the floor shivering and shaking, tears flowing down her cheeks. She hated that man, bitterly, and hated that he had complete control over everything here under his ever watchful eye. It was mind-numbing and terrifying all at once, hell if she had any less self-control she would have pissed herself there and wept like a child. Standing up on shaking feet, she fled from the room and located her brother, falling into his arms and quietly sobbing into the soft fabric of his clothes. She hated him, hated herself, hated the knowledge that he possessed. Why did he know? Why didn't she hide the data, the actual experiment? Stupid idiot, any hope was lost now. Their freedom was gone, and it was all her damn fault.

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	24. Chapter 25

_________I don't know why my last chapter looked all scrunched together. Hopefully, this one is fixed_

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With a short groan, Maaka rolled over on Shuhei's bed, her eye opening slowly. Ugh... Her head was throbbing, and even slight movement felt like hammers were smashing against her skull. Staring up at the dark ceiling seemed to work for her, but she had to lock her neck to keep her head from moving. The bed dipped suddenly, signifying that someone had sat next to her. A cool hand touched her forehead before moving down to her cheek. Absently, she let her hand fall into the touch.

"That feels good." She muttered, her voice hazy. Her blurry vision cleared up enough for her to make out Shuhei sitting to her left. Almost immediately, she let out a little yelp, bolting upright despite the immense pain that shot down from behind her eyes.

"What?" He looked almost panicked, possibly a good mirror of her own face by the looks of it. She just shook her head, a painfully fake smile on her lips.

"No-nothing!" Without a second glance, she rolled off the bed, fighting the need to wince in pain. "I was just... wondering where Amaji was. I think I'll go find her." Man he looked confused as she slipped outside into the much more harshly lit corridor. Hissing in pain from the fireworks exploding in her skull, the short woman hurried down the hallway. The truth was that she had to get away from Shuhei. She didn't want to look as weak as she was right now in front of him; she couldn't look venerable. It didn't take her too long to wander into Amaji's tiny lab she had gotten upon request. Maaka found the redhead at a small table, messing around with tiny pieces of metal and scribbling things down on paper. With a loud sigh, the dark haired woman crashed onto a stool, pressing her head into the cool metal.

"What are you up to?" Amaji stiffened and cleared her throat slightly, her hair hanging over her face.

"Oh... you know... stuff..." Again, she cleared her throat. Had Maaka been focused instead of trying to relieve the pressure behind her eyes, she most likely would have caught the signs. "Uh, actually I'm trying to-." After those words she went off on a scientific rant, so Maaka just tuned her out. She wasn't dumb, but the crap her friend was saying just confused her.

"In plain Japanese please?" She said, speaking to the table she was resting on.

"In a shell: I'm working on how to get you and the guys back home." Instantly, Maaka bolted up, her head not even registering at the quick movement.

"You mean just the guys don't you? Amaji we've been through this: I can't go back and you know that. I thought we were clear on this." The redhead just continued her work, not even glancing at her hotheaded friend.

"Well... I've changed my mind. You're leaving too." A loud 'bang' made the scientist jump in surprise. Even with her strength being depleted into such a low number, Maaka had managed to slam her hand on the table. The usual glare was shining in her bright eye.

"And you assume I'm just going to do as you say?" She nearly shouted, but the sheer increase in volume was making her brain throb deeply. Amaji didn't argue, something that was rare with her when challenged by Maaka. "You know something I don't, don't you?" Her eye narrowed and she stared at her friend.

"I know a lot of things you don't, I am the scientist. I'm sorry, but you're going, it isn't a matter of choice anymore I'm sorry." She turned away, a deep sigh escaping her lips. Tinkering with what little she had out, her head began to hurt and cursed whatever Gods existed if any.

"It most certainly is, I won't go!" Growling under her breath, Amaji tried not to let her voice rise.

"You will, Raiata, if I have to fucking drug you and force you through. The Soul society has accepted your re-entry, and I am not letting the chance slip by. I'm sick of this place, and I know you are too. Look at yourself, you're a mess, and I don't give a fuck what you think but I'm most certainly sure Shuhei would like you to come with him when they leave." She stood up and started for the back, unable to face the fuming woman behind her. She grabbed the documents from before and skimmed over the data, confirming something she hadn't expected. Crumpling the paper, she entered a small section of the lab she had preserved strictly for the matter at hand.

"And what about you?" Amaji wasn't surprised to hear the angry woman behind her, and shrugged, letting the documents in her hand drop to the floor. She really hadn't thought about it.

"I have Gin here, remember he was originally the only reason I had left. Someone has to operate this thing, and destroy it. There is no second try," She sighed and traced the lovely smooth metal, a small box filled with papers and smothered in ink as she tried desperately to create and operating transport. "I won't have anything if I go back, Maaka, I didn't have anything to begin with."

Maaka shuddered visibly, strain evident on her face. "You have me here, you idiot. Am I chopped liver or something? I'm not going without you, and I'm not going with him!"

Amaji snapped and turned on the shorter Shinigami. "You listen to me, for once. I'm actually trying to do something for the good of someone else for once, for your benefit, and you won't listen to reason. You had a home back there, Maaka, a life! So do they. I have nothing, and even if I go I'll be a fish out of water, the odd one out again. I can't go, this is my home, I don't have anywhere else! But you, you had friends, a taichou to communicate with, someone to look forward to seeing everyday, and now even a lover!" She grit her teeth and finally shouted at the upsetting woman. "Get out of my lab, Maaka, I will not listen to you anymore, you're going whether you like it or not!"

She reached out and lifted Maaka delicately, careful not to hold her too tight, and forcefully threw her out of the lab, locking the door shut behind her. The woman was such a child, and didn't know what was good for her! Jeez, how did she survive this long with her? Why was she so intent on staying here, what excuse did she have other then having Amaji around? So what, she was a friend, but she had more important things back in the Society.

"I swear, I'm going to put her down and drag her through by the hair if I must." Shaking her head she returned to the small box she had been working so diligently on and kicked it hard before drawing out her Zanpakuto and driving it through the metal square. Infuriated she sat down beside a wall, keeping to herself as she fought not to kill something. Everything was going wrong, so wrong, and even as a scientist, she may not be able to fix it

OOO

Letting out a cry of pure anger, Maaka cracked her fist into the wall adjacent from Amaji's door. She didn't even feel her fingers splintering as they connected with the solid concrete. It had been a while since she was this pissed off.

"Who the fuck does she think she is? Ordering me around like that!" She growled, storming away down the hallway. "Fucking hell!" She needed to kill something. But of course her dear brother wouldn't allow that now would he? Crying out as the pain from her hand hit her, Maaka slid down the white wall until she was sitting on the green-blue tiled floor. She groaned, and rested her head against the wall. Her eyes had started to throb, obviously tired of being in her skull and wanting out. "Who the fuck does she think she is? Ordering me around like that!" She growled, storming away down the hallway. "Fucking hell!" She needed to kill something. But of course her dear brother wouldn't allow that now would he? Crying out as the pain from her hand hit her, Maaka slid down the white wall until she was sitting on the tiled floor. Letting out a sound of sheer defeat, she let her head flop back until it was touching the wall. Now that her anger was slowly ebbing away to pain, she could think a little more clearly. Amaji was right to a certain degree... She did have a life back in the Soul Society. A life that had been interrupted when she was dragged to this hell hole though. She closed her eyes, thankful for the black screen that closed her off from the bright lights just overhead. Absently, her fingers traced over the scars on her exposed arms, each raised piece of flesh reminding her of her old life. Yeah, it wasn't a great life, but she had been happy. Without thinking about it, she reached up to trace her favorite scar; the one that ran just under her right eye to her ear. That was the scar from her first day out of the academy.

OOO

She had been admitted to the eleventh squad due to her crappy kidou and her excellent swordsmanship. Of course, she had quickly found out that, save for the vice-captain, she was the only woman in the entire squad. Back then, her skin had been flawless and unmarred by scars. So naturally, she picked up the interest of just about every member of her new squad within seconds of stepping into the barracks. Before she had even set her bag down on the ground, she was surrounded by a large crowd of men who had come out to see the pretty, pale, small, woman that had joined their squad. They figured it had to be a mistake; never before had a woman joined their unruly squad. Most Shinigami women took one look at the men, turned their noses up in disgust, and marched away, their prissy heads held high. There was no way this woman was in their squad. After a few seconds of being intensely stared at, she had snapped.

"What the fuck are you all staring at?" She turned, sweeping the crowd with her good eye. Some of them had jumped, startled that this little girl could make such a loud noise. "Well? Any of you going to answer me?" From the back, she had heard one voice speak.

"We're lookin at the girl who doesn't look like she'd last a round with any one of us." The speaker had been Ikkaku Madarame, but at the time, she hadn't known who the hell he was. The bald man had stepped into the center of the ring the men had made. Immediately Maaka could sense the aura of battle around him, and had reflexively reached for her Zanpakuto.

"You wanna repeat that, Cue ball?" She snapped, throwing him a glare, even though she had to look up to do so. At the nickname, he visibly tensed, all his joking demeanor gone. He had been about to spit back an angry reply when a much taller figure parted the crowd easily. This figure she had known to be the captain. The spiky haired man had simply pushed the bald man to the side, and bent down to get a closer look at the newest member to his squad. Maaka never dropped her glare once during the time the man was in her face. After a second, he straightened up, turning to address his squad.

"So, what's the issue here? Ya never see a girl before huh? Or is it the fact tha ya don't know what to do with a strong one eh?" He shrugged his shoulders before turning to face Maaka once more. "Though ya don' look too strong ta me. Ya sure yer in the right squad kid?" He laughed at the sharp look he received in response.

"I guess I am, I was assigned to the eleventh squad, not the fourth squad." She growled, earning herself immense cries from the men surrounding her. But Zaraki had laughed, clapping his huge hand down on her head.

"Yer pretty cocky ain't ya?" His free hand reached into his robes, and she heard the dull sound of metal scraping against cloth. "My men here don't seem to think ya should be a part of this squad." Just as he finished speaking, she saw the flash of his sword and dove backward to avoid getting cut. Pulling off a back handspring, she regained her balance just in time to see the captain come flying at her, swinging again. Immediately, her own Zanpakuto was unsheathed and raised in defense, just barely stopping the strong attack. The eleventh squad had grown quiet, much preferring watching their captain fight the woman. She was defending well, but getting pushed back with each swing. Soon she'd be pinned against something. Her thoughts were so distracted that she didn't see the captain's attack until it was too late. A brief flash of pain and the smell of blood were her indications that she'd been hit. The crimson liquid flowed from the gash just under her good eye. Ignoring it, she grabbed the serrated edge of the man's blade, holding it in place with most of her energy. There was no room to swing a sword, so she dropped it, letting it clatter to the ground as she swung her fist. Her punch made contact on Kenpachi's jaw, sending his head to the side slightly. All noise seemed to disappear as the tall man didn't move an inch.

"She hit the Captain..." A voice said, sounding heavy with disbelief. Maaka's own heart was skipping beats rapidly, knowing that she had just signed a death warrant. She dropped his sword and waited to be struck down. But then something odd happened, he started to laugh. This odd, wild laugh that made Maaka truly question her choice in squads. Kenpachi straightened up, giving her a twisted grin.

"I like this girl! She's tough!" He declared, still laughing. The resounding silence seemed to dissipate as the captain gave her his approval. She sighed, picking up her Zanpakuto as the bald man and a man who really could have been a girl walked up to her. A little grudgingly, the bald one held out his palm. In it was a small jar.

"Put that on your wound," He said, looking away as she took it with a small grin. "Look, don't go thinkin that we're okay, hear me?" This seemed to be how the man showed at least a little bit of affection. The man next to him sighed.

"Don't mind Ikkaku, he's just mad because the captain did worse to him when they fought." He giggled as Ikkaku turned on him, giving him a look that could kill given the chance.

"Yumichika..." He growled, reaching for the man, who jumped out of the way, still laughing. Ikkaku sighed, turning back to the now chuckling Maaka. "So, you got a name or what?" She started, a little alerted that he wanted to know. But she relaxed, a smile forming on her lips.

"I'm Maaka."

OOO

But that had been a lifetime ago. Sighing lightly, Maaka lifted her head off the wall, slowly bringing her hand to her face to inspect the damage.

"What am I going to do?" She mumbled to herself, closing her eyes and letting her shoulders sag.


	25. Chapter 26

It had to have been an hour or so, and sulking what earned her nothing but wasted time and energy. She'd fought before; she lived through it, even without Maaka's support she would follow through with her original plans. She stood up, her back aching as she stretched the arched spine, knees popping as they bent and moved. Cracking her knuckles, she sighed and slowly stepped out of her little room, the shattered box and pieces in hand, and headed towards Szayel's lab. If anyone had the repairs she needed, it was the lunatic who earned the eighth rank in the Espada line.

Upon entering the lab, having earned entrance long ago when he had first achieved his lab, she located Szayel conversing with another of the Espada, Nnoitora. Jiruga Nnoitora was not someone she enjoyed conversing with; he had no common sense and lacked any form of logical thought besides fight and kill. Though, to a degree, he reminded her of Maaka. Lacking multiple scars, and also being an all male, he was obviously different, but personality wise they could possibly have been twins if she dared to compare their DNA. Swerving around the pair, uninterested in whatever they were chatting over, she located small tools that would work in repairing her broken box. Before she could even start tinkering with a few of the bolts, a shadow loomed over her shoulder, and as she placed the tool down, another appeared to her side.

"What have we here, Miss Ichimaru?" He was obviously admiring the technology in her hands, eyes glittering with interest and close proximity indicating he was observing her work. Nnoitora snorted, and stalked away, not caring in the least what to brainiac's had to share when it came to science and their work. Amaji shrugged, stepping away before returning to her repairs.

"You know exactly what I have before me, but my question is, does Aizen?" He grinned, and she thought of her brother, that sly snicker he always seemed to offer. He reached out to trace a finger along the surface of the smooth outer core, then prodded the sparking wires within. He clicked his tongue.

"We had an agreement, Miss Ichimaru, of course he should know nothing more then what the monitors show. But, as my part of the bargain, tell me," He leaned towards it and petted the box, eyes dissecting the entire machine as if mapping it out for future reference. "How is it coming along? I see damage has been done,"

With that, he sounded disappointed, and she grunted. "I became frustrated, and beat down the poor thing. Otherwise, it wasn't working out as well as I had hoped. I had incorrectly connected the wrong wires, and most likely added the wrong chemicals, or maybe I shouldn't have used any," She paused, then turned to Szayel with a small smile, an earnest smile. "Would you like to work on it for me? My treat, I have some other business to attend to before I may return to it."

She thought she'd never seen a happier person, he looked so elated, it was as if she were giving a child a pony on their birthday. "Of course, of course, I may be able to transfuse some of those- oh! I see where they were connected, no, it is not right at all." Though she knew already where she had errored, it was nice to finally have another person's corrective statements. If anything, she missed Mayuri pointing out her mistakes and telling her to stare over from scraps with nothing more then a drawing sheet and her memory.

"I leave it in your hands while I go feed the poor starving creature locked up in a jail cell completely alone... without proper care... so scared and tired," He didn't detach himself from the machine, too engrossed to even hear her words. Smiling and knowing her little gadget was in good care, she exited the lab to find herself with little more to do then go feed Kira as she had promised she would do earlier. She wasn't thrilled with the idea, but perhaps some silent company would do her well, better then someone shouting and yelling or speaking insensibly.

OOO

A little beeping sound came from the little communicator around Maaka's wrist. Groaning, she pushed herself up into a standing position, ignoring the sharp sting of broken bones. Hisagi needed feeding, currently, this was her most pressing matter. Wandering down the hallway, she snagged the tray of food from a Numeros, nodding to the low level Arrancar as she did. After a while, she ended up at Shuhei's door. Molding her face into a semi-normal looking one, she pushed open the piece of wood.

"I brought you food." She announced, setting the tray down on the bed before plopping down on the floor. Almost two seconds after the tray had touched the fabric it was picked up and ravished. He must have been hungrier than she had thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked after he was finished inhaling the three course meal. "You look upset." Damn, was her poker face that bad? She shrugged, looking up at him from the cold concrete floor.

"I've been informed that there might be a way to get you and Kira out of Hueco Mundo and back to your home." She put her hands in her lap, turning her face away from him so he couldn't see the look in her eye. From the bed, she heard a small laugh; an amazingly rare sound.

"It's about damn time huh?" He said, another laugh slipping out. His face was full of such joy that Maaka couldn't help but let a weak smile play on her lips. Shuhei seemed too overjoyed to notice anything on her face, because he jumped off the bed, grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet with one pull. Before she could stop him, he tilted her face upward, kissing her simply. "We can finally go home." His voice had softened, and he smiled at her. Again she avoided his gaze, her lip getting caught between her teeth as she chewed on it.

"Yeah..." She muttered. He was so excited, so happy, that she couldn't tell him that she wasn't going. Forcing a smile, she looked up at him. "It'll be great won't it?" Tentatively, she reached out, putting a hand on his arm. It was a good thing that he was taller than her, because he couldn't see the clear guilt in her orange eye. Without warning, he pulled her into a tight hug, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I can't wait," He mumbled into her soft locks. "I miss the sun, the light, the warmth. It's been too long..." If he hadn't pulled her into that hug, he might have seen the slow flow of tears down Maaka's cheeks

OOO

Food, a basic necessity to life, yet this boorish being wouldn't touch it, again. Though she acknowledged his current situation, taking it to heart, that gave him no reason to starve himself when he was going home. She watched him poke gently at the food, picking out a small morsel here and there to nibble, but he had as of yet to take a full bite and savor the not-so-disgusting food. Sighing, things going nowhere, she sat in the swivel chair and spun, letting her thoughts wander. Perhaps he wouldn't eat while she was room, and when she left he would devour the food like a ravenous beast? Nah, that was unlike Kira, he would eat little whether she was present or not. Instead, she finally swiveled to face him, and groaned.

"You eat slowly, eating too slowly is bad for you, you know," He looked up and he heart skipped as she noted the hint of despair in the single blue eye she could see. "Look, I don't see why you're being so glum. I've told you already, I'm getting you out of here, you and Shuhei both. If you want, I can ask my brother to see you off."

He shook his head and simply stared at her, as if putting words together carefully before replying. She waited, she had time to spare so long as she wasn't wasting it moping or pouting alone in a corner somewhere. Possibly something he might do with spare time, or even here while she was away with business.

"- go." Shit, she'd been so engrossed in thought she'd missed what he'd said. Smiling sheepishly, she waved at him.

"May I ask you to repeat yourself, I zoned, sorry." He let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging almost infinitesimally, and looked back down at the food.

"I do not need him to bid me farewell, I will be fine," His chopsticks poked at the greens on the plate before once again he looked up at her. "Will you- will you be coming with us when we leave?" He sounded on edge, and Amaji bit her lip. She wouldn't lie, but telling the truth would hurt her more, she didn't exactly want to see him go, even if it were for his benefit. She realized she'd been becoming more and more selfish as of late.

"No, neither Maaka nor I will be returning with you to the Soul Society, though hopefully I will be able to convince Maaka otherwise. The replacements we put in will dissipate into nothing as if they had never existed, and a list will appear in your room on the events that have passed during your absence."

He shifted and pushed the plate aside, all interest lost on the food. Amaji watched him, mood careening and she stood up, walking over to the bed. He looked more the surprised as she leaned on his side, sitting promptly on the side of the bed, and she laughed quietly at his shock. "Why won't you leave this behind, come with us?"

"I would be leaving a lot if I left, more then you know." She sighed and pressed into his arm, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment. For a cold person he sure as well was warm, and his body heat was nice against her chilly skin. He was silent as she sat there, watching her, and she was comfortable just sitting there. This was as close as she'd get, she realized, as much as she had come to love this man.

"I would be to, more then you know." Her eyes opened and she pulled away to look back at him, a frown on her lips. He wouldn't meet her gaze and instead occupied himself with the platter at the end of the bed, which upset her a little.

"And what would that be, Kira-san? I honestly can't fathom what would hold your interest here. Perhaps my brother? Though I don't suppose you'd be up to sticking around for a traitorous captain." She lost herself to thought once again, a finger to her lip as she thought. There couldn't be much here, he'd barely seen any of it to begin with. Completely lost, she let her red gaze stare at him blankly. "I truly have no idea,"

"You're supposed to be the smart one, I was hoping it would be an obvious guess," Before she had time to let the words sink in, her hand was brushed away by his and he leaned forward, lips connecting with hers. She went rigid, mind boggled as to what had just happened, and slowly let herself ease as he waited patiently for a response. There wasn't much of one, as she quickly kissed back before pulling away abruptly, rushing for the door with the back of a hand to her mouth. Refusing to turn back, she paused at the door.

"I'll leave the food here for you and come back for it later, good bye." With that she exited and quickly sought out the lab she'd been in previously, locating Szayel and abruptly shoving him aside to return to working at her little gadget. Anything to take her mind from the kiss. It was too late, he should have done something earlier. He was leaving; she was not - that was the end of it. It was too late to admit anything, and if she had to, she would not offer a good bye in order to keep herself from trying to leave through that damned bridge with him.


End file.
